Police personnel detain a BJP worker as party activists block trains at Kharagpur railway station during the party's 12-hour general strike in West Bengal.
KOLKATA :
BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP)
workers clashed with the police
at several places across West
Bengal on Wednesday as they
tried to enforce a 12-hour shutdown, which had a mixed
impact in the State.
Several BJP leaders, including former MPs Roopa Ganguly
and Locket Chatterjee, Rajya
Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya
and MLA Agnimitra Paul, were
detained for blocking roads
since the morning.
The ‘Bangla Bandh’, which
began at 6 am, was called by the BJP in protest against
Tuesday’s police action on
participants of ‘Nabanna
Abhijan’ or march to the
Secretariat, organisedbythe
newly-formed students’
groupChatra Samajover the
rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar hospital.
The shutdown partially
affected dailylifein theState
with many people choosing
to remain indoors apprehending troubleon theroads.
InStatecapitalKolkata, the
usual weekday flurry was
missing witha smaller numberofbuses, auto-rickshaws
and taxisplying.Private vehicles were also significantly
less, even as markets and
shops remained
open.Schools and colleges
wereopen, though thenumber of students was fewer.
Many English-medium
schools in Kolkata suspended classes