Calcutta, May 26: A matchbox last night ignited months of muted public rage resulting in the lynching of an extortionist in a North 24-Parganas neighbourhood.

Shyamal Roy, a man from Malda who used to run a racket in the Ashokenagar area of Habra, died at Barasat District Hospital this morning.

Around 9.30 pm, Shyamal was doing his everyday round of the local market when he bought a cigarette and took away a matchbox along with it. When the stall owner demanded 50 paise for the matches, he was slapped.

“He protested and Shyamal slapped him again. Seeing the poor man being beaten up for nothing, we became furious,” said Asim Modak, who owns a CD and cassette stall.

One by one, the shop owners stepped out and Shyamal was surrounded. “No one had ever resisted his dadagiri before. So, he was taken aback. Suddenly, he turned around to run. The shopkeepers chased him with sticks and iron rods used to bring down shutters. Some picked up brickbats from the road,” said hardware shop owner Pramod Das.

Within minutes Shyamal slumped to the ground, but the beating continued.

When police arrived an hour later, Shyamal was unconscious and bleeding from the mouth.

The residents and traders of Netajinagar said they took the law into their own hands after repeated complaints against the goon failed to evoke a response.

District police chief Praveen Kumar said 11 people were arrested for the lynching and 20 others detained.

The police confirmed that Shyamal had a criminal record. The residents said he was also a drug peddler. “But none of our complaints yielded result,” said Tarun Sinha.