(Top) Strike enforcers stop a taxi at Park Circus. (Above) The passenger is dragged out. Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, Jan. 3: Auto drivers in groups of 10 to 20 held the city to ransom this morning as they dragged commuters off autos and taxis and dared drivers to defy their diktat, brandishing metal rods, bamboo sticks and bricks.

At Ultadanga in the north, Trinamul Congress supporters enforcing an auto and taxi strike were most severe on cabs that came down VIP Road since the Citu-affiliated airport taxi stand had refused to take vehicles off the road.

“The government and the CPM are trying to snatch whatever little we make for a living in the name of the environment. We will not cower. Let commuters bear the brunt,” Shakti Shaw, 27, an auto driver armed with a rod told The Telegraph near the Hudco crossing at 9am.

Six of Shaw’s colleagues gathered around a taxi coming from the airport and one of them climbed up on the bonnet with a brick, threatening to smash the windscreen if the driver did not ask the passenger to get off.

Christopher Chen, 27, a businessman, got off after a few minutes of altercation and the taxi sped away.

“This is ridiculous. They stopped my taxi just because I was coming from the airport (Chen saw off a relative who took a morning flight). I volunteered to get off, otherwise the goons would have hurt the poor taxi driver. I’ll walk a bit and look for another taxi,” said Chen, a resident of Phears Lane in central Calcutta.

North Calcutta was perhaps the worst hit as the strike supporters prevented people from taking autos on 10 routes — Ultadanga-Baguiati, Ultadanga-Lake Town, Ultadanga-Sector V, Ultadanga-Karunamoyee, Ultadanga-Tank No. 13, Ultadanga-Shovabazar, RG Kar-Karunamoyee, RG Kar-ID Hospital, Hudco-Karunamoyee and Hudco-Tank No. 13.

In central Calcutta, Sealdah, Esplanade and Park Circus autos were stopped.

In the south, the popular routes blocked were Rashbehari-Gariahat, Rashbehari-Ballygunge, Rashbehari-Taratalla, Hazra-Bondel Gate, Taratalla-Maheshtala, Rabindra Sarobar-Jadavpur thana.

“We will do everything within reach to stop the government from imposing the high court’s absurd order. We will riot if necessary,” threatened Azeem Hyder, 28, supervising the “action” at Hazra.

Ashim Bose, 37, who works in a private bank, said: “My auto started off unnoticed. But as we were about to cross Hudco, a group came running, threatening to hurl stones at us if the driver didn’t pull over. They demanded that we get off. There was no choice.”

He decided to walk the kilometre or so to his Salt Lake office because the few buses on the road were packed.

Bose was somewhat fortunate, as most others had to walk much longer.

“I take an auto from Rashbehari to reach my workplace at Ballygunge. I can’t walk the distance. There are no taxis and hardly any buses,” said Sanjukta Ganguly, 25, a techie, already an hour late.

The impasse continued till around 11am, after which most autos and taxis stayed off the streets.

“We had nearly 2,000 taxis on the road by 5am, as usual. However, the drivers were forced to head home. Between 7 and 11am, almost all of our taxis returned,” said Tarak Nath Barik, secretary of the Calcutta Taxi Association.

Bimal Guha of the Bengal Taxi Association, said: “Two thousand taxis from our union were out today, but the drivers couldn’t risk staying on after things took a violent turn. If a vehicle is damaged in violence during a strike, insurance companies refuse to pay.”

How police allowed vandals to run riot across the city and processions to stall traffic

9.30am: Strike supporters start forcing passengers off taxis at Park Circus. ‘Action’ spreads to other parts of city

10.15: Garia-Barrackpore bus set on fire on Bridge No. 4 at Park Circus Two autos on the Manicktala-Nimtala route flying Citu flags vandalised

11: Park Circus strike enforcers stone a bus Citu members ‘vow to run autos without fear’ in a procession that crawls from Hedua to Nimtala and disrupts traffic

11.15: Second Garia- Barrackpore bus vandalised, at Park Circus. Another bus attacked in Topsia

11.20: New Town- Parnasree bus vandalised near Bridge No.4

11.45: Rabindra Sadan-New Town bus torched at Beniapukur

Noon: CPM rally stalls traffic at Shyambazar

12.15pm: Bus on Sodepur-Baghajatin route torched at CIT crossing, opposite Lady’s Park

3pm: Trinamul rally at Hazra holds up traffic