kolkata fridays 12hour bandh called by the bjp in north bengal affected normality in the region in a day marked by widespread tension and several flashpoints between bandh supporters and the police several bjp leaders were detained the bandh called in eight districts had been called to protest against the deaths in kaliaganj of a teenage tribal girl on april 21 and of a 33yearold man mrityunjoy burman on thursdaythe bjp said the bandh was a success the trinamool congress termed it a feeble attempt by the saffron party to take bengal back to the days of bandh culturethe police detained bjps siliguri mla sankar ghosh dabgramfulbari mla sikha chatterjee kumargram mla manoj oraon and bjps matigaranaxalbari organisation president anandamay burman for blocking roadsat various other points bandh supporters engaged in vandalism bjp supporters who were in a rally led by tufanganj mla malati rava roy broke the windshields of an nbstc bus at cooch behar a number of bjp supporters who were blocking hill cart road in siliguri came in the way of a vehicle carrying policemen they also stopped an nbstc bus and thrashed the bus driver police later conducted a lathicharge to clear the road a group of protesters also stopped a train at mahabirsthan near siliguri stationbandh supporters also closed the alipurduar bus depot staged a rail blockade at jalpaiguri station there was considerable tension at malda when government employee arindam mukherjee was forced to get down from an erickshaw and was allegedly assaulted bjp supporters also burnt tyres on the adjoining national highway34 in cooch behars bhetaguri ghughumari and raiganj in north dinajpur bjp and tmc supporters clashed in front of cops in cooch behar alipurduar jalpaiguri and malda towns most shops and markets were closed and private transport went off road in restive kaliaganj the bandh was neartotal the scene was similar at balurghat in south dinajpur where bjp mla budhrai tudu participated in picketing bjp supporters however kept tea gardens out of the bandhs ambit we usually get letters regarding bandhs if called in the industry but we did not get any such letter this time said indian tea association dooars chapter secretary sanjay bagchitmc senior and state urban development minister firhad hakim criticized the bandh as an effort to take bengal back to the days of bandh and strike culture people didnt endorse the bjps bandh call hakim saidthe bjp described the scene across north bengal as a reflection of public mood the bandh was a success public response was spontaneous said state bjp president sukanta majumdarsiliguri mayor gautam deb said the bjps bandh call was on a nonissue the bjp will continue with such disruptions till the lok sabha polls we have to tackle them politically he said with inputs from roshan gupta pinak priya bhattacharya subhro maitra