A Behala resident on Monday complained to police that members of a local club damaged his car after he refused to pay a subscription of Rs 10,000 for a puja on Shivratri in the neighbourhood.
Arup Nandan Das Adhikary said around a fortnight ago, some members of Behala Sarada Pally Shib Shakti Club went to his house on Raja Rammohan Roy Road and demanded Rs 10,000 as subscription for Shivratri.
“We refused and paid them Rs 1,000,” Das Adhikary told Metro on Monday evening.
A few days later, club members allegedly returned
and tried to install two large loudspeakers above their apartment. The family protested.
Das Adhikary’s wife Abhilasha Paul alleged on Monday that when her husband had left home for work in the morning, he saw that their Maruti Suzuki Alto, which was parked outside their building, was “badly damaged”.
“Someone had damaged the windshield of our car. Broken bricks were lying on the bonnet of our car.... The roof of the car was dented,” Paul said.
“We are sure the club members have damaged our car...,” she alleged.
Members of the club countered the allegations.
“We had asked for Rs 3,000, not Rs 10,000,” said Prasenjit Chakraborty, a member of the club.
Based on a preliminary probe, the police have arrested two persons — Jhantu Mandal, secretary of the club, and Abhijit Chakraborty, a member.
Rupak Ganguly, councillor of Ward 121 (the neighbourhood is in the area covered by the ward), said: “If the allegations are true, law should take its course.”