Kharagpur, July 19: IIT Kharagpur has lodged a complaint against a Trinamul leader accusing him of threatening a professor after the hostel-management committee the teacher headed transferred nine contract workers.

Police last night questioned Apurba Ghosh, the West Midnapore Trinamul Youth Congress general secretary and former councillor of Kharagpur municipality, for seven hours till 1am on the basis of a complaint lodged by IIT coordinating warden A.K. Samantaray.

Ghosh denied threatening professor Surjya Pal, who is also the chairperson of the Hall Management Committee. In IITs, hostels are referred to as halls. When this correspondent contacted Pal over phone, he said "call later". Subsequent calls went unanswered.

The contract workers, who are kitchen helpers and also serve food, have been transferred from two hostels to three others on the campus. The workers are said to be affiliated to the Trinamul labour union.

The police said the Trinamul leader could be questioned again if required.

A police officer said: "According to the complaint, Ghosh called up Pal and abused and threatened him."

The officer added: "Ghosh had allegedly asked Pal to think about the security of his wife, a dentist who has chambers in and around Kharagpur town."

An IIT Kharagpur teacher said on condition of anonymity that after receiving the phone call, Pal informed institute director Partha Pratim Chakraborty.

The subdivisional police officer of Kharagpur, Santosh Mondal, said: "We have started a case of threat and intimidation against Ghosh."

IIT registrar Pradip Pyne refused comment on the complaint. "Whatever we had to say, we have told the police."

An official of the Hall Management Committee said the nine contract workers were transferred on July 16.

"We had issued a notice regarding the transfers. The four unions of contract workers (at the IIT) opposed the move and demanded that a meeting be held to discuss the issue. The meeting was scheduled for Monday. But on Sunday evening, Ghosh called up our chairman and abused him. The meeting was cancelled," the official said. The unions are backed by the INTTUC, Intuc, Citu and the AITUC.#

Ghosh claimed he had "merely called up Pal to ask why the committee transferred the workers without holding any discussion with the unions".

"I never threatened or intimidated him," Ghosh said.

The leader told this correspondent: "The IIT authorities can't transfer contract workers because they are not permanent employees of the institute. If the IIT transfers the contract workers, they will have to be given wages and other benefits on a par with the permanent employees."