Balurghat, Aug. 1: The father of a 16-year-old in South Dinajpur’s Bangshihari has accused the nephew of a local CPM leader of abducting the girl at gunpoint last week, but police are yet to act on his complaint.

According to the allegations, last Saturday around 10.30pm, Ruksana Sultana (name changed) was forcibly taken away by Muktarul Hussain, 26, from her home in Allahabad, nearly 90km from Balurghat town.

“Muktarul led a gang carrying firearms and they forcibly took my daughter away and beat us up when we tried to resist. They even threatened to shoot the neighbours who had rushed to help us,” the father said.

He added that the abductors drove off with his daughter in a car.

The next day the girl’s father lodged a complaint with the Bangshihari police station against Muktarul and five others. But the police are yet to take any action, he alleged.

“Muktarul’s aunt, Joinab Khatun, is an influential leader of the CPM local committee. It is because of her that the police have remained silent till now,” the father said.

He said the youth had been hounding Ruksana and proposing marriage, against her will, for the past few months.

“After my daughter rejected him on several occasions, Muktarul threatened to abduct her, but we never thought that he would actually carry out his threat,” the father said.

He added that the girl was a student of Class X in a local madarsa.

“Ruksana is the younger of our two daughters. My elder daughter is married. Muktarul had been eyeing my small land holding, which is why he wanted to marry Ruksana,” he said.

Muktarul’s father, Bajiruddin Ahmed, said the charges were false.

“The girl is not a minor and she and my son registered their marriage a few days ago. But her parents are opposed to the match and that is why they are levelling these allegations,” Ahmed said.

Attempts to contact Muktarul’s aunt, Joinab Khatun, proved futile. However, Goutam Goswami, a district committee member of the CPM, said: “A crime is a crime no matter who commits it. The police should act as soon as complaints are lodged.”

The inspector-in-charge of the Bangshihari police station, Debashis Ghosh, said he was on leave and would join work tomorrow.

Additional police superintendent Imran Wahab promised to make inquiries and take necessary action.