Residents of a village in Malda district on Thursday accused a civic volunteer of recently ordering a couple of youths to set ablaze a haystack of a farmer for daring to defy his "highhandedness".
Bapi Mondal, the civic volunteer, had engaged two youths on the night of December 23 to torch the haystack of farmer Dipak Mondal, who had protested his acts at Gosanibag, a village located under the Gazole police station limits, the villagers alleged.
“After the incident, we checked the footage of some CCTV cameras and found two youths involved in the arson. We identified them and today (Thursday), as we caught and interrogated them, they admitted that Bapi had instructed them to do light the fire,” said a villager.
“Bapi gave the order because Dipak had always protested against his acts of highhandedness,” he claimed. "Bapi harasses villagers on some pretext or the other."
On Thursday, a group of villagers walked into the house of the civic volunteer and demonstrated there for an hour. They also caught hold of the two youths and tied them with ropes.
The aggrieved villagers mentioned that on several occasions earlier, they had filed complaints against Bapi with Gazole police, including senior police officers.
“But no steps have ever been taken against him. This has made Bapi more arrogant. He has started becoming hostile towards those who protest his illegal acts,” said a villager who joined the protests.
Bapi, sources said, was not at home during the demonstration.
As the news spread, a police team reached the spot and detained the two youths accused of arson.
“We spoke with the villagers and assured them that all the complaints which have been lodged against the civic volunteer with us will be probed. If the charges are found to be correct, stringent steps will be taken against him according to the law,” said a police officer of Gazole.