Kolkata (West Bengal): Two students were injured after protestors participating in the two-day Bharat bandh pelted stones at a bus at Shanpur point on Jhikira-Howrah route on Wednesday morning. The identity of injured students is yet to be ascertained.
The two-day Bharat bandh call-January 8 and 9-has been given by 10 central trade unions to press for the fulfilment of their 12-point charter of demands. Their demands include a minimum monthly salary of up to Rs 18,000 and social security provisions among others.
Sporadic violence was reported from different parts of West Bengal where protesters stopped trains. As a result, trains plying on Lakshmikantapur Namkhana and Diamond Harbour route in Sealdah’s south section were disrupted.
Protesters threw banana leaves on the overhead wire disrupting train services on Dakshin Barasat, Mathurapur on Nischindapur-Kakdwip and Kakdwip-Namkhana lines. In order to restore services, tower vans have been pressed into service by the railway authorities to remove banana leaves from the overhead wire. However, trains were plying normally on other sections of Sealdah division and the Howrah division of Eastern Railway.
After a 48-hour Bharat bandh of trade unions begun on Tuesday, normal movement of various trains was adversely affected as nearly half a dozen trains were cancelled and 20 other trains were controlled en route. Similar scenes were visible in Bhubaneswar where protesters burnt tyres at a railway station as a mark of their protest. The impact of ‘Rail and Rasta Roko’ call of trade union workers was largely felt in West Bengal, Odisha, and Karnataka.