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Attempts were made to set on fire two trains and rival groups clashed as violence marred the 24-hour 'Bangla Bandh' called by the Trinamool Congress against the bifurcation of Eastern Railway, which disrupted normal life across the state.
Over 1900 Trinamool Congress activists, including four party MLAs, were arrested for trying to enforce the bandh.
Bandh supporters attempted to set fire to a coach of a train near Sheoraphuly station. Four bombs were also thrown near the track when Tarakeswar-Howrah local was entering Sheoraphuly station, Eastern Railway sources said.
They also tried to set ablaze the luggage van of a Howrah-bound passenger at Uttarpara station in Hooghly district, the sources said.
Police sources also said supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist clashed at two different places at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district.
Bandh activists forcibly evicted the station master at Barasat and ransacked his office while the motorman and guard of a local train were detained by bandh supporters at Bhadreswar station.
Bandh supporters also damaged seven government buses, including four in the metropolis, and injured a bus driver, who was admitted to a hospital in a serious condition, police sources said.
Suburban train services at both Howrah and Sealdah divisions were affected when bandh supporters squatted on the tracks, but Metro rail services were normal.
Government buses and trams operated in the metropolis, though with few passengers. Some private buses and mini-buses were also on the roads, though traffic was thinner.
Air services remained unaffected at the N S C Bose international airport with both domestic and international flights operating on schedule. Bagdogra airport in North Bengal was also unaffected.
Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee told newsmen that the bandh had no impact on industries in the state. There was normal work in tea gardens, mines and ports.
Attendance in government offices in the districts was also normal.
The state secretariat and government offices in Kolkata recorded about 50 per cent attendance.
Claiming success of the bandh, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee sought immediate intervention of the prime minister to resolve the problem arising out of the Eastern Railway bifurcation.
Banerjee also flayed the ruling Left Front for opposing the bandh and said it could not rise above petty politics even on the bifurcation issue, which was against the interests of the state.
Earlier Report: Trinamool sponsored Bengal bandh begins
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