Threatened with beheading for removing Mamata posters: Bengal official

A government official in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district has alleged that he was threatened with being beheaded by a ruling Trinamool Congress legislator and his men who also abused and assaulted him for removing posters of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.

Ten Trinamool workers have been arrested, though party leaders have rubbished the allegations.

Habra II Block Development Officer Dinobandhu Gayen, in his FIR to the Ashokenagar police station filed March 26, alleged that local legislator Dhiman Roy abused him on telephone after a Model Code of Conduct team removed the posters and festoons bearing Banerjee's pictures from public places March 24.

An officer of Ashokenagar Police station confirmed the receipt of the FIR and said 10 people have been arrested in this connection after they surrendered before the police.

"In view of the removal (flags and posters), MLA Ashokenagar abused me March 25 over telephone and thereafter the MLA and his team reached my office and entered my chamber and assaulted me physically and insulted me in front of my employees and also confined me to my office for quite some time," reads the complaint letter by Gayen.

Gayen, in his complaint, also claimed that he was threatened by the Roy and his men that if the posters were not put up again he and his MCC team will be "beheaded and their legs chopped off".

"Besides above, the MLA and his team threatened me by saying that the removed flexes, banners, posters etc have to be set up once again in their earlier position. Otherwise they would assault me and my official team. They threatened by saying 'We will behead you and cut off your legs at the station'," Gayen has alleged in his complaint.

Roy has rubbished the allegations.

"There was some heated debate between us because he acted in a biased manner and removed the posters. So we had gone there to protest, but nobody assaulted him. There was no physical contact," he said.

Senior Trinamool leader and State Food Supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick also refuted Gayen's claims.

"Despite the false complaint, we made ten of our party workers against whom the allegations were made, surrender. The allegations made by Gayen are baseless. The MLA or his men neither threatened him nor assaulted him," he said.