24-hour "Bangla bandh" begins ; little response evoked

Kolkata, Dec 05 (UNI) The "Bangla bandh", sponsored by the SUCI and two Naxalite factions, began here this morning, evoking little response.

State Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray told UNI that no untoward incident had been reported so far from anywhere in the state and life was normal.

The SUCI called the bandh for 24 hours, while the CPI-ML (Liberation) and the CPI(ML) jointly gave a separate call for a 12 -hour statewide strike in protest aginst acquisition of farm land for setting up Tata Motors' small car unit and alleged police atrocities on protestors at Singur in Hooghly district.

The Trinamool Congress, BJP and the Congress had extended moral support to the bandh.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told UNI that altogether 11 people had so far been arrested in different parts of the state for obstructing road and railway traffic.

Barring Kultali and Joynagar in South 24 Parganas district and a few other pockets in Nadia and Birbhum districts, life was near normal with buses and other vehicles plying as usual and most of the people venturing out for work.

While train services from Howrah and Sealdah stations were usual despite blockade at a few places, normal functioning was reported from government offices, factories and commercial establishments.

However, most of the shops, small commercial establishments and educational institutions remained closed.

This was the second bandh in the past four days after Trinamool Congress-sponsored dawn-to-dusk bandh on December One in protest against against "police atrocities" on the protesters.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was continuing her indefinite hunger strike at Esplanade in protest against the acquisition of farm land at Singur.

Samajwadi Party state president Vijay Upadhaya and four other AITC leaders also participated in the hunger strike.

UNI KDG SJC SS1126