A doctor attends to the BDO at the Itahar block primary health centre on Wednesday. (Nantu Dey)

Itahar, Dec. 22: The block development officer of Itahar was slapped and kicked around by CPM members this evening when he alighted from his car in response to a request by the party representatives that he personally receive a charter of demands from them.

The attack on Sheikh Jaher Ali in front of the block office has created a sense of insecurity among the employees who have decided to go on a pen-down strike from tomorrow till the culprits are arrested.

The Itahar zonal committee secretary of the CPM, Habibur Rehman, called up the BDO yesterday and sought an appointment with him around 12.30pm today. Rehman told Ali that a party delegation would meet him to complain about irregularities in the 100-days’ work scheme and rampant corruption in the Congress-run panchayat samity.

“I told the leader yesterday that I had to attend an important meeting at the district headquarters (in North Dinajpur) and that industrial development officer Subhanu Dhar would meet the delegation,” said Ali.

Today, a group of about 700 CPM supporters, led by Rehman, arrived at the block office at the scheduled time and demanded that Ali meet them. “There were murmurs among the crowd that the BDO had fled before they came and tension began to rise. We tried to reason with the CPM leaders that the BDO was attending an important meeting and he had deputed the industrial development officer to meet the delegation. But the party workers were not listening to us. So, we called up the BDO and told him about the situation,” said Pallab Mukherjee, the panchayat development officer.

Ali said when he had been told about the situation in his office, he sought the permission of Raiganj subdivisional officer, Aditi Dasgupta, to be excused from the meeting.

“I rang up the zonal committee secretary. He told me that the party supporters wanted me to be there and assured me that the meeting would be peaceful. I then called up the Itahar police station and the officer-in-charge told me that the circle inspector, Tapas Banerjee, was present at the spot with his men,” said the BDO.

“No sooner had I alighted from my car than a group of about 50 men shoved me and started beating me up. They tore my sweater and when I fell to the ground, they kicked me. My spectacles were smashed and the police did not do anything to rescue me. Some staff members managed to take me to safety inside the office. A few demonstrators even locked up doors so that the staff could not come out,” Ali said at the Itahar block primary health centre where a doctor was checking him.

The doctor said the BDO was lucky that he was not injured in his eyes when the spectacles were broken. “He has no external injuries, but his blood pressure has shot up because of the trauma,” the doctor said.

Ali later filed an FIR naming seven CPM leaders, including Rehman, at the Itahar police station.

Contacted, Rehman said he regretted the incident. “It should not have taken place. The crowd was restless. Some outsiders had intruded into the delegation and they carried out the attack.”