— Photo: Arunangsu Roy

RESISTING POLICE: Police arresting activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India during a protest rally in Kolkata on Monday. The Trinamool Congress, the Congress and other political parties called a bandh to protest against the killing of farmers at Nandigram on Sunday.

Kolkata: Stray incidents marked the Statewide bandh called by major Opposition parties in West Bengal on Monday to protest against violence at Nandigram in Purbo Medinipur district, which resulted in six deaths. The bandh evoked a mixed response.

Eighteen state buses were attacked here and one was set ablaze by protesters. Buses were damaged in other parts also and in some instances drivers were beaten up.

More than 1,900 people were arrested for trying to disrupt normal life.

Clashes occurred between the police and protesters who took out processions in the city. Many arrests were made as they clashed with the police in front of the Writers' Building, seat of the State administration.

Private vehicles were mostly off the road, while state buses and trams operated in certain areas. Metro rail services, and flights from the Netaji Subhas Bose international airport were not affected. Train services were disrupted early in the morning as bandh supporters squatted on the track. They were later resumed.

Attendance in government offices was between 30 and 50 per cent, according to Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy. Tea gardens, collieries and industrial establishments functioned normally, he said. Most educational institutions and commercial establishments remained closed.

Left Front Committee Chairman Biman Bose said the people did not respond to the bandh call. There was no impact on rural work. Industry, too, remained unaffected. He said employees of government offices were attacked in different parts.

Pradip Bhattacharya, working president, Pradesh Congress Committee, and Partha Chattopadhyay, Trinamool Congress leader, said the bandh was successful. Mr. Chattopadhyay accused the Left Front Government of "unleashing state-sponsored terrorism across West Bengal, a result of which was the violence at Nandigram" that started on Saturday night and continued into the early hours of Sunday.

PTI reports:

EB offices ransacked

Pro-bandh activists ransacked the Electricity Board offices at Shantipur in Nadia and Amtala in South 24-parganas districts, and assaulted some staff members.

A board source said the employees foiled the attackers' bid to loot the cash counter, but failed to resist them from assaulting the station manager who was injured in the scuffle. "The furniture and gadgets were ransacked."

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