An interior designer in West Bengal alleged Saturday that he was assaulted by an Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC) member and his associates for refusing to pay Rs 1 lakh as “protection money”. The police arrested two people based on his complaint.
Sudipto Ghosh, who resides at Deshbandhu Road at Baranagar in the North Parganas district with his wife, lodged a complaint with the Baranagar police. Ghosh’s FIR names five people, including INTTUC Baranagar zone president Shankar Routh and a TMC functionary, alleging extortion and assault.
While speaking to the media, Ghosh claimed that he had been receiving calls demanding Rs 1 lakh. “On Friday night, some men came to my apartment and threatened me. They said that ‘dada’ (Routh) instructed them to bring me to him.”
“When I attempted to call, they threatened to seize my mobile phone. At my residence, they assaulted me, an incident captured on CCTV, and then dragged me to the club, where I was assaulted again,” he alleged.
Ghosh further stated that the amount was reduced to Rs 70,000. “After the assault, I somehow managed to escape. I was first taken the Baranagar general hospital and then to RG Kar hospital.”
A purported CCTV footage of the assault went viral on social media, though the video’s authenticity could not be verified.
Ghosh said that he had done the interior work of a lawyer’s residence in Baranagar; however, he stopped work because the client was not making payments. He alleged that this client approached Routh to help resolve the matter. Ghosh further claimed that he was taken to a local club where Routh was present, standing and taunting him while the alleged assault occurred.
Routh has denied all allegations claiming that Ghosh is a fraud. “Even after receiving payment, he did not complete the interior work in the flat of a lawyer couple. He was threatening them while using my name. I called him and told him not to mention my name,” Routh stated.
Routh further said, “As soon as the lawyer couple brought their complaint to my attention, I called Ghosh to discuss the matter. I made it clear to him that such actions cannot be taken in my name. Now that the complaint has emerged under his name, he is fabricating false stories to implicate me.”
The Baranagar police said two of the accused, Rahul Jadav and Ayush Kundu, have been arrested. A senior officer from the Barrackpore Commissionerate said, “We are investigating the incident and working to identify the remaining attackers by reviewing the CCTV footage.”
Meanwhole, the Kolkata police arrested local Trinamool Congress leader Raju Naskar, 51, of Beleghata Saturday for allegedly assaulting a person.
According to the Kolkata police, there were allegations of threats and assault against Naskar and his close associates over a dispute related to real estate promotion. The complainant alleged that he was forcibly taken from his home and assaulted. The police arrested Naskar around 5.30 pm while he was attempting to leave the city in his car.