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Bangla Bandh: West Bengal government issued notification saying all the offices will remain open on Wednesday as BJP gave call for a 12-hour strike in response to police crackdown on Nabanna march.

Large-scale violence was witnesses in Kolkata during 'Nabanna Abhijan' on Tuesday.

Source : PTI

Bangla Bandh News: The Bharatiya Janata Party has given a call for a 12-hour Bangla Bandh on Wednesday in response to the police crackdown on protestors during 'Nabanna Abhijan' a day earlier. Pashchimbanga Chhatra Samaj, an unregistered students' body called the rally to the West Bengal state secretariat, Nabanna demanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. 

Large-scale violence was witnessed on the streets of Kolkata and adjacent Howrah on Wednesday with pitched battles with the police at multiple stoppage points. The violence lasted for nearly four hours as police resorted to lathi-charge, tear gas, and water cannons to disperse the agitators.  

Both the sides suffered injuries during the clash with senior police officers and women protestors among those who were hurt.

Over 200 people were arrested from across the state, said the police. 

#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | Howrah, West Bengal: 12-hour 'Bengal Bandh' called by BJP to protest against the state government

The bandh has been called after the police used lathi charges and tear gas on protestors during Nabanna Abhiyan,… pic.twitter.com/22MmAKJol2

— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2024

#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | Kolkata, West Bengal: 12-hour 'Bengal Bandh' called by BJP to protest against the state government

The bandh has been called after the police used lathi charge and tear gas on protestors during Nabanna Abhiyan,… pic.twitter.com/9EMoX1yNfo

— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2024

• Condemning the police action, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and state's Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari called a 12-hour strike on Wednesday. It urged Governor CV Ananda Bose to “impose President’s Rule” in the state.
• The West Bengal government urged people not to respond to BJP's bandh call and issued a notification stating that all government offices would remain open and all employees, except those facing exigencies or are on leave, would have to report for duty on August 28. Those failing to do so will have to face show-cause for their unauthorised absence.
• A public interest litigation has also been filed in Calcutta High Court to declare the 6 am to 6 pm strike by the BJP as illegal, reported ABP Ananda. The Nabanna also said that the bandh would not be accepted. 
• As the bandh started at 6 am on Wednesday, government bus drivers were seen wearing helmets while driving in Cooch Behar, as a safety measure in situations of violence.

VIDEO | BJP's Bengal Bandh: Government bus drivers were seen wearing helmets while driving in Cooch Behar.#BengalBandh #BengalNews

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/Wu1VvsfKgI

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 28, 2024

• Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said there would be no bandh in Bengal and claimed the call for the general strike was given because the chaos on the streets unmasked the BJP and exposed its conspiracy to create political conspiracy in the state.
• BJP national president JP Nadda slammed Mamata Banerjee over the police crackdown saying the images of police highhandedness have angered "every person who values democratic principles". "In Didi's West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it's a crime to speak for women's safety," he said. 

(With inputs from PTI)