The 12-hour bandh called by the BJP virtually had no impact in Kolkata but sporadic clashes between Trinamul Congress and the saffron outfit activists were reported from the districts. The BJP, however, called off the 12-hour strike two hours ahead of the scheduled time.

Around 1600 people were arrested across the state and another 50 were arrested under specific cases.

About 4000 officials of Kolkata Police were deployed in different parts of Kolkata under 21 deputy commissioners and 70 assistant commissioners of Kolkata Police. About 50 mobile police vans were deployed and 427 police pickets were put up. In spite of strict police surveillance, a bus was torched on Brabourne Road by BJP supporters. BJP activists were spotted asking shop owners to put their shutters down.

Soon after this, Trinamul supporters took out rallies asking shop owners to keep their shops open. This led to an altercation between BJP and Trinamul supporters. A Howrah-bound state bus fron Behala was vandalised by BJP supporters at Remount Road- Diamond Harbour Road crossing at 1 p.m. Nabanna was, however, draped under heavy security cover with a drone being deployed for surveillance. This is for the first time that a drone was seen above the state secretariat.

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Incidents of sporadic violence were reported during the bandh in Murshidabad. A 12- year-old student, Rakesh Nandy, was injured when police fired teargas shells this morning at Satui-Chowrigachha area under Behrampore police station limits. ADG law and order Anuj Sharma said that the people who vandalised government and public property would have to provide compensation for the damage.

Clashes between BJP and Trinamul supporters were reported from Mecheda in East Midnapore and Adra in Purulia as well. Buses were vandalised in Cooch Behar, Howrah and Kharagpur allegedly by bandh supporters. Police personnel were attacked in Jhargram and Islampur.

In South 24-Parganas, the BJP supporters blocked railway tracks at various stations in Diamond Harbour, Lakshmikantapur and Canning section under Sealdah division. The industrial areas at Budge Budge, Falta and Bishnupur were normal.

At Diamond Harbour, the BJP mondol secretary, Mr Manas Bose, was allegedly beaten up by Trinamul Congress workers while a rally was taken out by the bandh supporters on National Highway- 117. The bandh had least impact in Burdwan (East) and Bankura. In Kalna, police resorted to a lathi charge when the BJP supporters organised a blockade on STKK Road linking Kalna and Katwa towns. Two BJP cadres were booked in Burdwan town.

At Burdwan University’s distance education section, some examinees agitated for nearly an hour as the authority revoked a notification of postponement of examinations due to the bandh.

One of the examinees said: “on Tuesday, the university authority had suspended Wednesday’s exam due to the bandh and in the late evening, it again rescheduled the exam for the day, which caused us severe inconvenience.”

Areas like Sarenga, Raipur, Chhatna and Gangajalghanti in Bankura, however, witnessed partial bandh. In Onda, the police booked four BJP cadres when they allegedly tried to force the local shop owners to down their shutters. In Sarenga too, the BJP cadres scuffled with Trinamul Congress supporters.

Majority of the shops remained closed and most of the private buses were off the roads on Wednesday at Asansol. In Durgapur’s Benachity area, 10 BJP supporters were arrested by the police for forcibly trying to stop vehicles.

The bandh evoked mixed response as government establishments and industrials areas functioned normally in most parts of West Midnapore, East Midnapore, Jhargram and Nadia districts.

The West Midnapore police arrested the BJP district president Samit Das, secretary Arup Das and a few others, a police official said. Stones were pelted at buses and tyres were set afire on the roads to stop traffic at several places in West Midnapore. BJP workers set afire a public bus near Inda Morh in Kharagpur.

In Jhargram, the bandh supporters set ablaze a public bus when it reached outskirts of the town from Kolkata. The bandh supporters also forced students and teachers of Gopiballavpur College to leave the institute. They allegedly beat up a few students when they tried to resist.

Police arrested 60 BJP workers including BJP’s Nadia north district president Mahadev Sarkar. BJP workers also blocked the GT Road in Hooghly