The police on Wednesday arrested a Trinamool Congress panchayat member on the charge of assaulting the acting headmaster of a state-run school in South 24 Parganas district over a dispute regarding the collection of money for a trip, an officer said.

The member of the local panchayat, identified as Tridib Barui, was picked up from Kakdwip rail station.

“He was arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by the acting headmaster of the school,” the officer said.

A purported video of the incident that went viral showed Barui, who is also the president of a school management committee, allegedly pushing out the teacher-in-charge, Milan Kanti Pal, of Birendra Vidya Niketan in Kakdwip, in front of students.

According to sources, the incident occurred after a heated altercation between Barui and Paul over students’ excursion.

Paul alleged that Barui on Tuesday tried to force him to sign a paper containing “false charges” that he had collected money without the managing committee’s approval.

“He regularly used to give me some illegal proposals and when I refused he even threatened me. But on that day suddenly he started to beat me in the office room. That CCTV footage is already deleted. Then he started pushing me at my neck to send me out of school,” Paul alleged.

Paul sustained injuries to his hand, neck, and other parts of his body and is currently hospitalised at Kakdwip Super Speciality Hospital.

Barui, however, denied the allegations, claiming that “Paul “was collecting money without the managing committee’s permission.” “When I asked for receipts, he crumpled the paper and pushed me. I never beat him. He basically thrashed me and beat me in the school premises because I opposed his illegal work,” he said.

The incident, meanwhile, sparked a political row, with the BJP and CPI (M) criticising the TMC.

“TMC panchayat member Tridib Barui beats teacher Milan Kanti Pal at Kakdwip’s Birendra Vidyaniketan. The same criminal is HEAD of the school committee. Teachers getting thrashed by the very criminals who control their schools! This is Mamata’s sick joke on Bengal!” the BJP posted on X.

It further stated, “Teachers are now living in constant fear. Can’t do their job without some TMC thug coming to beat them up. Schools have turned into terror camps and the teachers are prisoners in their own classrooms. Mamata has completely destroyed Bengal. And Bengal’s educators are victims of this ROTTING system. DISGUSTING!”

State BJP president Sukanta Bhattacharya condemned the episode on social media, calling it evidence of “terror in the education sector.”

CPI (M) leader Shatarup Ghosh said, “Until people of Bengal will not thrash TMC, this type of incident will continue. In this TMC regime, teachers were not employed, they are heckled. This is the reality of West Bengal now. In the last 14 years, we have seen multiple these types of incidents. But, the Chief Minister or the Education Minister is not ashamed of such incidents.”

Countering the allegations local TMC MLA Manturam Pakhira said, “We are investigating the allegation and after that, we will take proper action.”

— With PTI Inputs