Barasat, April 2: Trouble erupted in different parts of North 24-Parganas after news of vandalism inside a madarsa library near Barasat spread this morning.

Hundreds of people took to the roads and put up blockades, bringing traffic and trains to a standstill.

Nearly 2,000 students and teachers of a school on Taki Road were kept confined on the premises as the authorities felt it was unsafe to let them leave. “We started sending the day-session students home in school buses after police provided escorts,” said S. Dutta, a managing committee member.

“Parents of the students who do not take the school bus were told to fetch them personally. We had seen protesters damaging private vehicles on the road,” added another school official.

The school arranged lunch for almost 2,000 students, who stayed back till evening because of the protests demanding the vandal’s arrest.

Thousands of people travelling through National Highway 34, which goes to north Bengal, Jessore Road and Taki Road were stranded for hours as mobs played hide and seek with the police, dispersing at times and assembling again.

At Kadambagachhi, 30km from Calcutta, the police were pelted with stones. A contingent of the Rapid Action Force was patrolling the area till late in the evening.

Mamata Banerjee and Jamait Ulema-i-Hind leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury went to the area tonight.