Balurghat, Nov. 19: The executive engineer of the South Dinajpur zilla parishad, Samir Kumar Nath, was allegedly assaulted by a contractor at his bungalow today.

Nath lodged a police complaint, alleging that Nitai Ghosh, the contractor, had come to his bungalow for a discussion on a payment. “But before I could make out anything, Ghosh suddenly started slapping me,” Nath said.

The contractor, however, denied the allegation and claimed that he was assaulted by the officer.

On April 5, Ghosh, a contractor of the zilla parishad, had been awarded a work worth Rs 25 lakh for constructing an immigration check post on the Indo-Bangladesh border at Hili. But the work had to be abandoned because of objections from the BSF.

However, the work resumed on May 29 following the intervention of the zilla parishad. But the cost of material had escalated by then. “I had submitted the revised bill. But the payment has not yet been made,” Ghosh said.

Today, Ghosh said, he went to Nath’s bungalow to discuss the matter. “But the executive engineer had insulted me and drove me out,” the contractor alleged. He also lodged a police complaint.

N.K. Majumder, the acting inspector in-charge of Balurghat, said he had received both the complaints and began an investigation.