Normal life affected in North Bengal due to 12-hour BJP bandh

Normal life was affected in the eight northern districts of West Bengal on Friday due to a 12hour bandh called by the BJP to protest atrocities on the tribal community in the backdrop of a girls death in Kaliaganj last weekProtestors damaged two buses in Cooch Behar where scuffles and heated a verbal spat between BJP and Trinamool Congress workers were also reportedHowever in other places the bandh remained peaceful even as 100 agitators were detained from different parts of the region a police officer saidProtesters damaged two buses operated by the staterun NBSTC while BJP activists put up road blockades in different parts of the region affecting normal life despite heavy police deploymentResidents of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Raiganj Kaliaganj Tufanganj Balarampur and Cooch Behar town remained indoors as business establishments were shut and vehicles off the roads due to the band that began at 6 amBarring a few stray incidents the bandh remained peaceful Our officers were alert and averted any attempt at disrupting law and order We took strict action and detained over 100 people trying to disturb the peace a senior police officer saidIn Tufanganjs Chowpati area police had to intervene when TMC activists tried to stop a BJP rally A similar situation was witnessed at Chakirbazar in Cooch Behar where TMC and BJP workers got involved in a scuffleThe bandh however did not have much impact on normal life in Darjeeling and Malda districts where shops markets remained open although BJP workers were seen protesting outside government offices demanding immediate stoppage of workTMC activists also organised counterrallies against the bandh and urged people to continue with normal lifeAlso Read Amit Shah attacks Congress over Kharges venomous snake barb at PMA BJP leader Anant De Sarkar alleged that he and his party colleagues were attacked by TMC workers at Ghughumari in Cooch Behar districtWe called a bandh to protest against what has happened in Kaliaganj I was holding a peaceful programme in support of the bandh All of a sudden we were attacked by TMC workers Police remained a mute spectator he saidMovement of students and emergency services were kept out of the ambit of the shutdownAuthorities have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC and suspended internet services in Kaliaganj town in Uttar Dinajpur district which has been rocked by violence since last week over a 17yearold girls deathA demonstration over the girls death had turned violent on Tuesday as a mob set the Kaliaganj Police Station on fire and thrashed onduty police personnel The protestors claimed she was raped and murdered though a preliminary postmortem examination report did not indicate rapeA civic volunteer who was critically injured in Tuesdays violence succumbed while undergoing treatment at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri on ThursdayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever