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.


ALSO READ: Bangla Bandh On August 28: Check What's Open And What's Closed As BJP Calls 12-Hour Strike In West Bengal


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











  • 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.







  • 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)