Leaders of the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act movement had urged the protesters after Friday prayers to follow the principle of non-violence and secularism so that a larger section of the society could also become an ally in the agitation.

As reports of violent protests and vandalism by a section of the protesters came from some parts of Bengal on Saturday, some minority leaders expressed helplessness before reiterating their plea to maintain peace.

A look at some of the major incidents that took place across the state on Saturday.

Murshidabad

Over 4,000 protesters attacked the Beldanga railway station, which had been ransacked and set ablaze on Friday. They vandalised the station and set fire to three compartments of a maintenance van of the Eastern Railway, which had came to repair the signalling system damaged during the violent agitation on Friday.

A fire tender, which was pressed into service to douse the flames of the maintenance van, was also set ablaze.

Krishnapur: The protesters attacked Krishnapur railway station in the Sealdah-Lalgola section and burnt down the ticket counter and the room of the station manager. They also torched three coaches of two empty local trains.

The railway police said they had called up the fire and emergency services but no team was sent till late evening as one fire tender had been set ablaze in Beldanga on Saturday morning.

Nimtita: The mob attacked Nimtita station on Saturday morning and set alight the office of station manager and ticket counter. Later, the mob squatted on the tracks and no train was allowed to ply on the Azimganj-Malda route on Saturday. The agitators also torched two nearby halt stations, Poradanga and Basudebpur.

Suti: Three state buses were ransacked and two of them were set ablaze after putting up a blockade on NH12 near Sajur more in Suti.

Sargachi: The railway station at Sargachi near Beldanga was set afire. Station master’s room and ticket counter were razed to the ground.

Samsherganj: The protesters attacked Samsherganj police station and hurled stones at the policemen inside.

Islampur: Protesters ransacked and set on fire the house of Aminul Hasan, the chief of Trinamul-run Raninagar panchayat samity.

Howrah

Kona: The agitators first blocked the Kona Expressway in Salap and later a clash took place between the police and the protesters in Garpa. After the police tried to disperse a mob following the clash, a number of buses were set afire. Although the administration said five buses had been burnt down, unconfirmed reports said at least 10 buses were torched. The passengers had been asked to get off the buses before the arson. The mob also set on fire two trucks on Kona Expressway.

Sankrail: The protesters blocked at least three railway stations and torched a ticket counter and the office of the station manager at Sankrail railway station. The agitators also blocked stations like Abaga in Howrah.

Birbhum

Muraroi: Over 5,000 protesters blocked tracks near Muraroi railway station for over three hours from 10.20am. Several trains, including New Jalpaiguri-Howrah Satabdi Express and Bangalore-Dibrugarh Express were delayed as services in the Rampurhat-Malda section were stalled for few hours.

Security personnel at Santragachi on Saturday. Pictures by Subham Jyoti

North 24-Parganas

Train services were disrupted in the Barasat-Hansnabad stretch of the Eastern railway from 6am as protesters put up a blockade at the Sodalia-Lebutala station. They also hurled stones at the trains and the station office. Blockades were put up at Kankra, Mirzanagar and Chanpapukur stations.

Traffic came to a halt for about two hours on NH12 when protesters blocked the road near Amdanga. The agitators burnt tyres, set the effigies of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah on fire and chased the police when they arrived to remove the blockade.

The protesters also blocked Old Satkhira road near Ghojadanga in Basirhat. Around 500 trucks carrying perishable items remained stranded on the road for over five hours since the morning.

Malda

Harishchandrapur: At Harischandrapur railway station, hundreds of youths accompanied by teenagers suddenly started smashing the chairs at the platforms. The mob targeted the railway ticket-booking counter.

Stones were thrown at the counter and wires of the computers and keyboards were snapped. The protesters also stopped the Malda-Katihar Passenger and threatened passengers.

Kaliachak: Hundreds of college students took out a rally and marched towards Chowringhee — a crossing on NH34. The rally at the end was joined by common people and as they started agitating on the highway, traffic came to a halt. The police and the RAF were deployed to maintain law and order but the agitation ended peacefully.

Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar and Subhasish Chadudhuri