Cooch Behar, Oct. 26 -- A family has accused BJP supporters of vandalising their house, assaulting a family member and attempting to forcibly take him to a party office after the family failed to attend a mediation meeting in Cooch Behar's Harirhaat area on Monday.
The incident took place in Harirhaat under Barokodali-I Gram Panchayat in Tufanganj subdivision, triggering tension in the locality. The BJP leadership, however, has denied any involvement in the incident.
According to local sources, a dispute arose between the family of Deepak Barman, a resident of Harirhaat, and a neighbouring household. A mediation meeting was reportedly convened at the local BJP party office on Monday, and Deepak Barman was asked to attend.
Deepak alleged that when his family failed to turn up for the meeting, a group of BJP supporters attacked their house. He claimed that the group vandalised the house, assaulted him and attempted to force him onto a motorcycle to take him to the party office.
Police from Boxirhat Police Station reached the spot after receiving information about the incident and rescued him. Two people were arrested from the spot, police sources said.
However, BJP Cooch Behar district vice-president Ujjwal Kanti Basak denied the allegations, asserting that the party had no involvement in the incident. Basak claimed that the dispute was a family matter involving the brother of the late Vinod Barman, a BJP worker. He said villagers had arranged a mediation meeting at the request of Vinod Barman's wife.
According to Basak, when one of the parties failed to attend the meeting, villagers went to their house to enquire about the matter. He alleged that the family members damaged their own door during the episode, adding that neither the BJP nor any party worker was involved in the incident.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.