Midnapore, Nov. 27: When a block development officer in West Midnapore refused to dance to the tune of the CPM-controlled panchayat samity, party workers decided to make him pay.

They piled his house with dirt and human excreta while he was on leave and complaints to the police went unheard. The CPM workers made life so difficult for Samir Das, in charge of Gopiballavpur’s Block II, that he was forced to seek a transfer.

Samir Das has been facing resistance from the sabhapati of the local Belebara panchayat samity, Sunil Das, since he joined as BDO in September 2004.

“I refused to sign cheques on the basis of only verbal orders from the sabhapati. The panchayat officials were not ready to allow me to visit and inspect any project in the block using government money. I told these officials very clearly that I would not sign a single cheque without inspecting the sites and verifying facts and figures. The CPM-led panchayat officials did not agree to my proposals,” the BDO said.

Matters came to a head when some panchayat members drove Samir Das out of a meeting on a social forestry project. “I wanted some specific explanations from the panchayat samity officials regarding the project. But the officials refused to give any clarification and asked me to clear it, which I flatly refused. I was then forcibly driven out of the meeting,” Samir Das said.

There was more embarrassment in store for the BDO as posters sprang up across the block against him.

Samir Das wrote to district magistrate D. Nariyala on September 9, while the local CPM demanded his removal. Nariyala warned the sabhapati against encouraging villagers to put up the posters.

But the DM’s tough talk did not have much impact. Samir Das returned after Durga Puja to find “dirt, even human excreta scattered over the windows?. It was stinking and impossible for any human being to live in”.

He lodged an FIR at the local police station.

“The same thing happened when I returned after Kali Puja on November 6 and I again lodged a complaint with the police. But no action was taken,” the BDO said. “I have urged the district magistrate to transfer me from here.”