A family at the block office. A Telegraph picture

Nandigram, May 21: Mamata Banerjee may have swept East Midnapore but over 1,000 Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee supporters who had fled home after CPM cadres threatened to bash them up are scared to return home.

Malati Das of Simulkundu said: “The CPM supporters came to our house frequently before the polls and said they would pick their targets selectively if they won and beat every one of us if they lost.”

The 40-year-old widow had fled home with her two sons and a daughter on May 12, a day after the elections here.

Around 500 people from Simulkundu, Sonachura, Southkhali, Satengabari, Keyakhali, Gokulnagar and Gangra have taken shelter in the block development office.

Malati said she was “happy that the CPM had lost” the zilla parishad. “But that doesn’t mean we can return home. The CPM has told us they will beat us up even if they lose.”

The district CPM leadership denied the charges. “Allegations that CPM workers are threatening villagers are baseless,” said district secretariat member Ashok Guria.

Nandigram I block development officer Shantiram Gorai said: “We’ll escort them home after the counting process is over.”