Kolkata: The bus drivers of North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) buses were seen wearing helmets for safety purposes amid widespread protests across the state.
A bus diver said, “We are wearing the helmet as bandh has been called today…The government has ordered us to wear the helmets for safety…” as reported by ANI.
The strike from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. has been called to condemn police action on the protesters who participated in the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ (March to Bengal Secretariat) rally on Tuesday.
The worst affected were suburban train services both at the Howrah and two sections of the Sealdah divisions, as BJP supporters blocked the railway at several places. Due to this a number of local trains remained static for a long time there.
At several places, there were minor scuffles between BJP supporters and the police personnel as the latter tried to remove the blockades. In many places, the BJP supporters even sat on the railway tracks and the police personnel had a tough time in removing them.
At the time the report was filed reports of rail blockades had surfaced from different pockets of West Bengal, including South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24 Parganas.
At certain places, scuffles broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters as the latter hit the streets since morning to oppose the general strike. Such scuffles between the ruling and opposition party supporters have been reported from places like Konangar in Hooghly district and Asansol in West Burdwan district.