A group of people, allegedly owing allegiance to a JMM leader, ransacked the residential office of Giridih MP and Ajsu senior leader Chandra Prakash Choudhary at Baghmara block in Dhanbad on Thursday following a dispute over construction work in the coal mining area.

According to police sources, the dispute arose following the construction of a boundary wall by Hill Top Company, a private firm outsourced by PSU Coal India Limited (CIL) subsidiary BCCL in the Babudih coal mining area under Madhuban police station.

“The locals opposed the construction of the boundary wall of the outsourced company as they claimed that it had not paid any compensation for taking over their lands. However, the outsourced company henchmen, allegedly led by JMM leader Karu Yadav, started intimidating the villagers leading to the violent clash,” said a police official.

“The Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary (the area falls under Dhanbad district but comes under the Giridih parliamentary constituency) had been supporting the locals and demanding that construction works be started only after the payment of compensation,” the official added.