Cooch Behar, Dec. 16: Traffic in Cooch Behar was affected and offices were almost empty today as several north Bengal and Assam-based organisations demanding the separate state of Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur observed a bandh.

While the strike impacted all Cooch Behar’s towns, other districts of north Bengal remained normal save for Jalpaiguri where private transport kept off the roads and educational institutions remained closed in Dhupguri and Mainaguri.

The Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, Kamtapur People’s Party and nine other organisations based in north Bengal and adjoining Assam have been demanding Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur.

However, no untoward incident was reported from any parts of the region. Cooch Behar police arrested 33 bandh supporters for picketing in different parts of the district. With a handful of state-owned buses taking to the streets, people found it hard to commute.

The Cooch Behar superintendent of police, Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, said the strike passed off peacefully. “We are grateful to the people of the district for supporting our cause,” said Asutosh Barma, the secretary of the Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party.

He said since Saturday 13 supporters of the Separate State Demand Committee — a conglomeration of the 11 outfits — had been sitting on a fast-unto-death at Dinhata’s Prantik Bazar.