Bhatibari (Alipurduar), March 30: The CPM secretary of a watershed management committee here and his three brothers have been accused of assaulting a youth who wanted to know how and when villagers digging a pond in the locality were to be paid.

Pintu Pal was rescued from the hands of committee secretary Swapan Saha and his brothers by a police constable who was passing by. The constable, too, was threatened by Saha’s supporters for intervening.

Pal had gone to Saha’s house this morning to find out how the committee proposed to pay the labourers who yesterday began digging a pond in Chilurghat, 13km from Alipurduar town. Pal, a BA second-year student, was not working on the project, but the 20 odd labourers included some of his friends who were eager to know how much they would earn.

Money for government projects is routed to watershed management committees, comprising local political leaders among others, through gram panchayats. Bankim Chandra Das, the president of the Bhatibari-Chilurghat watershed management committee, said Rs 25,000 had been sanctioned for the pond.

“The moment I asked about the wages, Saha and his brothers, Tapan, Tapas and Dipak, started beating me up,” said Pal, who is suffering from chest pain and has been advised to get an X-ray done. “I was lucky that the constable rescued me.”

The constable took Pal to a nearby shop. Around 50 men, allegedly supporters of Saha, followed them and asked the constable to apologise for meddling in their business.

However, they left when a large police force arrived soon after. Pal has filed an FIR with Bhatibari police station.

Saha has denied the charges. “I did not beat up anyone. Pal is not a worker, so why should he come and question me about wages?” he asked.

The committee president has promised a probe into the allegations.