Seven killed amid Bengal strike

Very few vehicles are on the road

At least seven opposition supporters have been killed in attacks by armed Marxists in the Indian state of West Bengal.

The violence took place as a 12-hour strike called by the state's leading opposition party paralysed life in the state.

Everything has come to a standstill. Calcutta looks like a ghost town

Trinamool official Kalyan Bandhopadhyay

Police said hundreds of Marxist supporters attacked those belonging to the opposition Trinamool Congress Party at many places in the state in an attempt to prevent the strike.

Three opposition dominated villages in Garbeta in southern Bengal were attacked, and hundreds of houses set alight, the police said.

Bombs

As the residents fled in panic the Marxists opened fire with guns and lobbed locally made bombs.

Police said at least six Trinamool Congress supporters were killed, but a spokesman for the party alleged that at least 11 people died in the violence.

In the state's northern town of Cooch Behar, Marxist supporters are said to have thrown bombs at an opposition procession killing one Trinamool Congress supporter.

But the Trinamool spokesman said at least three of his party members were killed.

Tens of thousands of Trinamool Congress supporters were out in the streets of the state capital, Calcutta.

They picketed in front of government offices, bus terminals and railway stations as the 12-hour strike started at 0600 Indian time (0030 GMT).

An official at Calcutta's police headquarters is reported as saying that more than 20 state-run buses were burnt by opposition activists.

Major disruption

Officials said the impact of the strike was total with very few vehicles on the roads even in Calcutta and other towns, and attendance in government offices pretty thin - at least before midday.

It is election year in West Bengal

"Everything has come to a standstill. Calcutta looks like a ghost town," Trinamool official, Kalyan Bandhopadhyay told the AFP news agency.

Educational institutions and business establishments shut down and trains were not running anywhere in the state.

Railway officials said long distance trains from West Bengal to other parts of India were being rescheduled.

One report said no international flights took off from the airport although domestic flights remained on schedule.

Thousands of policemen have been deployed in Calcutta and other sensitive areas of the state to prevent violence during the strike.

But as the news of the clashes in Garbeta and Cooch Behar spread, tensions began to rise elsewhere.

The Trinamool Congress have called the strike to protest against what they described as mounting attacks on their supporters.

They are also pressing for the West Bengal Government to be dismissed and the state brought under federal rule.

West Bengal faces state elections this year in what is being seen as a showdown between the ruling leftists and the Trinamool Congress.