Bolpur, Oct. 25: Around 500 people today surrounded the house of a panchayat pradhan in a Birbhum village demanding cancellation of the local ration dealer’s licence.

The residents of Chhotokartikchunuri village in Margram, about 305km from Calcutta, alleged that Abdus Salam had not been supplying the rice allotted to the villagers.

Panchayat pradhan Mohammad Shahjahan Ali, of the Congress, was gheraoed for around one-and-a-half hours.

“He has the responsibility of stopping corruption in our village. He is our pradhan,” said Jabbar Sheikh, a villager.

“We had complained to the SDO (sub-divisional officer) and the BDO (block development officer) and they assured us that the food controller of the Rampurhat sub-division would start an inquiry about 20 days ago. But till now, no action has been taken against the dealer,” Sheikh added.

The pradhan said he had promised the villagers he would take the matter up with the administration. The sub divisional food controller of Rampurhat, Aditi Kumar Mondal, said a probe was on.