Ransack triggers bus strike

TT, Jalpaiguri, May 13: A group of youths ransacked a private bus in Odlabari near Malbazar today after they had an altercation with the conductor.

Workers of private buses plying across the Dooars went on a wildcat strike for over two hours to protest the attack, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers. Bus movement became normal in the afternoon after police promised action against the attackers.

Police sources said 17 residents of Roypara in Odlabari had returned from Kerala, where they worked, this morning. "They disembarked from a train at New Jalpaiguri station and boarded a private bus on the Siliguri-Malbazar route. The youths had arguments with the bus conductor twice, first over possession of seats and later on fare," said a source.

When the bus reached Odlabari around 9am, the youths ransacked the bus on NH31C and fled. N.N Bhutia, the subdivisional police officer of Malbazar, said some of the attackers had been identified and searches were on to trace them.