Kolkata: The 24-hour Bharat bandh called by 26 trade unions on various issues including withdrawal of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had little impact on the life in Kolkata and its adjoining districts. Till 2 pm, around 170 bandh supporters including Left leadership were arrested. Most of the shops in the city were open and the educational institutions and offices functioned normally. However, the public and foreign banks were closed after the bandh supporters shut the gates and had put their flags on them. More than 95 per cent state government employees attended office. This apart, train services in North 24-Parganas were affected as bandh supporters obstructed train movements. The Sealdah (South) section of Eastern Railways (ER) was affected as bandh supporters had thrown banana leaves on the overhead electrical traction system (OHE), wire between Ghutiari Sharif and Champahati on the canning section, Lakshmikantapur- Mathurapur on the Lakshmikantapur-Baruipur section and between Magrahat-Hotor on the Diamond Harbour section, causing short circuit. On the Howrah main line banana leaves were thrown between Rishra-Konnagar. However, services on the Asansol and Malda division of ER were normal throughout the day. In several places under South Eastern Railways (SER), bandh supporters obstructed normal train movement resulting several trains were stopped at various stations. In the Bongaon section the bandh supporters kept crude bombs on the railway track near Hridaypur railway station. The locomotive pilot of a local train saw the bombs and stopped the train. Later police recovered those bombs and train services resumed. Left workers on Wednesday morning forced the Dum Dum Metro station to close the ticket counter and also tried to prevent passengers to get out from there. They even tried to enter the platform but failed due to police action. On Wednesday morning, the Left party took out a rally from Jadavpur 8B bus terminus led by Sujan Chakraborty. It is alleged that the rally threatened shop owners to shut down their shop and also ransacked several buses and police vehicles. Bandh supporters allegedly set a police vehicle on fire following which police initiated lathi-charge to disperse the violent mob. Several Left workers along with Chakraborty were also arrested. At Mullickbazar Left workers allegedly resorted to hooliganism and forced the shop owners to close their shops. In Rashbehari area bandh supporters vandalized buses. Apart from the city, bandh supporters ransacked buses and other vehicles in the districts too. In Burdwan, the Left workers allegedly beat up bus and truck drivers. Furthermore, some bandh supporters were reportedly obstructed and beaten when they were trying to close a school. Guardians reportedly protested and beat up the bandh supporters.

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