A former footballer was allegedly assaulted and held captive by Trinamul supporters in a party office near his Bally home for several hours on Saturday night after he protested their interference in a tiff between his elder brother and a neighbour.

Satyabrata Bhowmick, 42, lodged a police complaint on Sunday morning. None was arrested till late on Sunday.

The former central defender had represented India between 1993 and 1997. Before retiring in 2005, he had also played for Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

According to him, the trigger behind the incident was the construction of a 6ft wide gate that opens into a 250m long private road constructed and maintained by 12 families including theirs at Nischinda Dewanchak in Bally.

Ganesh Majumdar, a resident, was constructing the gate since Saturday morning. Satyabrata's elder brother Subrata and other residents who maintain the road had opposed the move. The Majumdars had been using another gate for several years but following a property division, Ganesh got a portion that did not have an entrance.

"They had never paid for the road and refused to do so even on Saturday. Hence, we had objected to his using the road," said Subrata, a CESC employee.

Ganesh, a Trinamul activist, allegedly called the party's Nischinda local committee president, Parimal Chakraborty, who reached the spot with his supporters. The men allegedly pushed away the protesters and asked Ganesh to continue with the work.

Satyabrata, who is secretary of the Howrah district committee of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company employees' union, called up state irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee about the matter. Within two hours, a group allegedly led by Chakraborty came to his house and dragged him to the party office about 500m away.

"They abused me for complaining against them and said they would have killed me had I not been a Trinamul supporter," Satyabrata said. The men made him sit at the party office for about three and a half hours and did not let him use the washroom, he alleged. They did not let him go until he wrote an apology letter around midnight.

"They dragged me out of my home in front of my family and abused me for hours inside the party office. I had to plead with folded hands for mercy but they did not let me go until I wrote the apology letter. I could not take the humiliation and lodged a complaint on Sunday morning," said Satyabrata.

Chakraborty denied the allegations. "Why will we abuse or assault a party member?" said Chakraborty. Howrah police commissioner D.P. Singh said the police were investigating the complaint.

When Metro contacted Rajib Banerjee, the minister said he had asked both parties to settle the matter amicably.