A policeman points to the club, off Samsul Huda Road, scene of a clash on Tuesday night. Picture by Amit Datta

At least two people were injured on Tuesday night in a clash between residents of Samsul Huda Road, near the chief minister’s flat, over control of a local club.

Representatives of both groups lodged complaints with Karaya police station. No one has been arrested.

Some members of United Welfare Society, off Samsul Huda Road, gathered in the club on Tuesday evening to discuss who was going to be their next secretary and chalk out a plan for running coaching classes for children on the premises.

“We had also planned to take up some other issues, like the recent threat by local tough Mohammad Arshad and his men to trader Gulam Mohammad on Sunday. We were furious at the manner in which Arshad had been terrorising us using his connections in the CPM,” said Mohammad Ayub, a resident of the area.

“Suddenly Arshad and three of his men barged into the club and attacked us, saying that the meeting cannot be held. We could not take it any more and decided to retaliate,” added Ayub.

Police claimed that the men at the club chased Arshad and his accomplices and even barged into his house and ransacked it. Arshad and one of his men were injured.

According to local residents, Arshad and his men place bets while playing carrom on Samsul Huda Road at night and often threaten residents for trying to oust them from the club’s committee.

“At times, they would stop people on the road and demand money for drinks,” said Nadeem Abbas, another local resident.

“Over 50 residents from the locality have lodged a complaint with Karaya police station,” he added.

“I had gone to the club not to stop the meeting but to ask how it was being held in the absence of the club’s secretary, Nadeem Abbas. I also resisted the effort to film children studying and send the tapes to Pappu, one of the accused in the Rizwanur case, for getting donations from abroad,” said Arshad.