Siliguri, Sept. 13: A trade body in north Bengal today wrote to the chief minister, saying a Trinamul leader and her husband had barged into the head office of an industrial group in Mathabhanga on August 31, threatened to burn down the building and drag the promoter out into the street and beat him up.
Surajit Paul, the general secretary of the North Bengal Industries Association, said in the letter to Mamata Banerjee that even though two police complaints had been filed, no action had been taken.
Kalyani Poddar, the chairman of the District Primary School Council of Cooch Behar and a member of Trinamul's district committee, has denied the allegations. She and her husband Chandan Das were named in the complaints.
Arindam Sarkar, the managing director of Sarkar Group of Industries, said Poddar, along with Das and some others, had entered the head office on August 31.
"Without informing any one of us or our employees, they suddenly started measuring our building. My 80-year-old father and some of our employees asked why they were taking the measurements. I was away in Delhi then. Poddar became furious and used foul language. She said her men would burn down our office and I would be dragged into the street and beaten up. My father filed a complaint with police on the same day," said Arindam.
Poddar's husband Das is the vice-chairman of Mathabhanga municipality.
"Although two complaints were filed, no steps have been taken by the police so far," Arindam said.
The Sarkar Group of Industries manufactures detergent powder and cakes, liquid blue, scrubber, dish wash and toilet cleaners. The annual turnover of the group is around Rs 100 crore and it has manufacturing units at Mathabhanga, Mainaguri, Fulbari and Dankuni. With around 1,000 employees, the firm has stakes in tea industry also.
"We contribute around Rs 15 crore as revenue to the government every year. With regard to our business and office premises, there is no illegality. Even if the local civic body or the land and land reforms department intends to measure our space, they should have served proper notices. But no notice was served" Arindam said.
Contacted by The Telegraph, Poddar denied the charges.
"The allegations are concocted and baseless. The group's managing director wants to evict some traders from their stalls close to his office. The stalls have been there for several years. As my husband is the vice-chairman of the local civic body, we are against such eviction. The MD is raising the allegations to tarnish the image of my husband and me. I have apprised ministers Gautam Deb and Rabindranath Ghosh about the issue," she said.
Industrialists said such high-handedness by ruling party leaders would discourage entrepreneurs from investing in Bengal. "When the chief minister is giving impetus to investments in Bengal, particularly in the small and medium sectors, we fail to understand how a person who heads the district primary school council can behave in such a manner. Such atrocities are unacceptable. We have written to the chief minister and hope she will take action against the trouble makers," said Surajit Paul, the general secretary of the North Bengal Industries Association.
Asked about the complaints against Poddar and her husband, Sunil Yadav, the superintendent of police of Cooch Behar, said in a message: "No complaint is sent to me today."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BIRESWAR BANERJEE AND MAIN UDDIN CHISTI
