Shops, schools, factories, offices remained closed and vehicles also kept off the roads as the supporters of the strike waving party flags took to the streets.

'The number of public transport was noticeably low in and around Kolkata. We had issued a notice to all state government departments to keep their regular service on. But it was somehow affected due to the strike,' state Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings.

According sources, train services were paralysed while some airlines rescheduled or cancelled their flights.

Many long-distance and local trains were halted midway by protesters. A number of trains - like Biswabharati Fast Passenger, Asansol-Haldia Express, Howrah-Purulia Express and Steel Express - were stopped at different railway stations as Congress supporters squatted on tracks.

'Both Howrah-New Delhi and Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express trains were rescheduled following the strike,' Eastern Railway spokesperson Samir Goswami said.

Police said a long-distance bus was damaged by mobs at Baguihati near the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here. Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed at the spot to bring the situation under control.

'Four people were detained when they were trying to close the Metro Railway station gate at Kalighat,' Kolkata Police deputy commissioner (detective department) Jawed Shamim told IANS.

Attendance in IT and outsourcing firms here was also affected, officials said.

'It doesn't always help to keep office open on shutdowns as it is difficult for people to come from distant places to work. No transport is available,' Globsyn Technologies' CEO Bikram Dasgupta told IANS.

Asked about the impact of the strike on the IT sector, he said: 'Not many people are coming. The fear factor, after what happened yesterday (Thursday), is on top of everyone's mind.'

Hundreds of Congress activists Thursday set fire to a bus on the Howrah Bridge, which links Kolkata with the busy Howrah railway station. They also obstructed all major road junctions across the state. Many trains were badly hit due to blockades on railway tracks.

'At the end of the day, strikes, irrespective of political parties, are frustrating,' Dasgupta said.

Patton International Ltd managing director Sanjay Budhia said: 'Strikes are never positive, irrespective of whichever political party has called it. Today I was supposed to go to the US via Delhi. But I had to reschedule everything.'