A former Trinamool Congress councillor in Raiganj town has been accused of assaulting an electronics goods trader and his wife and of vandalising his shop on Monday night.
The trader, Samir Debnath, accused Trinamool Congress leader Abhijit Saha of trying to evict him from the rented space where he has been running the electronics shop for almost 25 years now.
Debnath alleged that Saha, who is the former councillor of ward 27 in Raiganj civic area and the ward coordinator now, barged into his shop with a group of men on
Monday night.
“Around 9.30pm, he came to my shop with some youths and ordered me to close the shop. As I protested, they attacked me, dragged me out by the collar, and assaulted me. They also ransacked my shop,” said Debnath. “As my wife tried to intervene, Saha and his associates also attacked her,” he said.
His wife echoed him.
“When I tried to save my husband from the beating, they assaulted me too and molested me. We are terrified for our lives. They have threatened to kill us if we do not shift our shop from this place immediately,” alleged Debnath’s wife Purnima.
On the reasons behind the assault, Debnath said: “My shop is located beside the main road, which is a prime location, and I’ve been running my business here for the past
25 years.”
“A few days ago, the owner of the land on which my shop stands said he wanted to sell the plot. I told the owner that I was interested in buying the space,” said Debnath.
“However, Saha claimed that he had bought the land on which my shop stands. Asked for proof, he could not produce any document,” Debnath alleged.
“Since then, he and his followers have been pressuring me and my family to vacate the shop. When that didn’t work, he started his inbegan threatening us.
On Tuesday, the couple filed a complaint with Raiganj police.
After the incident, a CCTV footage went viral on social media.
“The police have begun their investigation. Our party will not tolerate such physical assault or violence,” said Arindam Sarkar, vice-chairman of the board of administrators of Raiganj municipality and a district vice-president of the Trinamool in North Dinajpur.
The business fraternity has also reacted sharply to the incident.
Shankar Kundu, the secretary of the West Dinajpur Chamber of Commerce, said: “We will not tolerate such attacks on a businessman. We stand firmly with the victim. Such highhandedness is unacceptable.”
Accused Saha denied the charges.
“The trader has encroached on the road by extending his shop beyond the allotted space. This has narrowed the road. He was warned earlier and as I went and requested him again to clear the space, he abused me aggressively,” the Trinamool leader said.
“I have also filed a complaint with the police. These are BJP supporters and they are simply trying to defame me,” Saha alleged.
Murder suspect
A man, who was previously arrested as a murder accused in 2012, and who had recently secured bail from Calcutta High Court, was re-arrested on Sunday in Calcutta for reportedly threatening a witness in the case with a weapon.
According to police, the accused, identified as Jamir Hossain, pointed a gun at
the witness and threatened him with serious consequences should the witness choose to testify against him.
After a new complaint was lodged, the police re-arrested Hossain on Sunday.