A civic volunteer and the husband of a Trinamool member of the local panchayat based in Harishchandrapur of Malda has been accused of abducting a youth and torching his shop for not meeting his demand to pay a sum of ₹2 lakh for convening a “salishi sabha” to settle a family dispute.

The youth’s family members filed complaints with police. The accused civic volunteer, however, has denied the charges.

Sources said a few months back, Golam Rasool, who runs a cosmetics shop in Narayanpur village under Malior-I panchayat of Harishchandrapur, got married to Rizwana Parveen hailing from Purnea of Bihar.

Soon after their marriage, the couple started having problems. To resolve the issue, Tarikul Islam, the politically connected civic volunteer, convened a “salishi sabha” on August 23 at Rizwana’s father’s place.

“Tarikul Islam demanded ₹2 lakh from us for mediating with my brother’s in-laws. As we did not agree to it, they abducted my brother and took him to Katihar,” said Masood Alam, Golam’s brother.

Golam’s family filed a complaint with the police, accusing Tarikul and the in-laws of abducting him.

“The police acted on the complaint and rescued my brother on August 25. Since then, Tarikul had been intimidating us over the phone and insisting that his name should be withdrawn from the complaint,” Masood said.

On Tuesday night, the brothers closed their shop at the local market in Narayanpur and went home.

“On Wednesday morning, we learnt our shop has been gutted in a fire. We suspect sabotage. We also suspect the civic volunteer of being behind it as we did not pay him money. He had threatened us with a major loss,” said Golam.

Later on Wednesday, they filed another complaint with the police.

The brothers also alleged that Tarikul claimed to be close to Tazmul Hossain, a minister of state and the local MLA.

“That’s why he often resorts to highhandedness. We suspect that because of his political connections, the police are not arresting him even though he has been named in the complaints,” said Masood.

Tarikul brushed aside the charges. “I also suspect arson. But I was not involved in it and nor in the so-called abduction. I have not demanded any money from the family. This is a conspiracy against me,” he said.

Minister of state Hossain was brief in his reaction. “I do not have detailed information about the case. If anybody violates the law, the police would take appropriate steps,” he said.

Officials of Harishchandrapur police station said they were probing the complaints.