Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the District Legal Aid Services Authority of South Dinajpur to inquire into an assault on a woman by alleged Trinamul supporters at a Gangarampur village after she protested forcible acquisition of her land for road construction.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice T.B.N. Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee issued the order when advocate Ravishankar Chattopadhyay placed a copy of The Telegraph and showed the news about the incident.

Alleged Trinamul Congress supporters led by Nandanpur panchayat deputy chief Amal Sarkar had tied the hands and legs of Smritikana Das, dragged her for 30ft, rained blows on her and locked her up at a house on Friday after the woman had resisted a bid to acquire her land forcibly for a village road.

Smritikana is a BJP supporter as well as a high school teacher. Her mother and siblings were also assaulted at Nandanpur in the Gangarampur block of South Dinajpur district on Friday.

Responding to the advocate’s plea to take suo-motu cognisance of the case on Monday, the Chief Justice said the court should not issue any positive order merely on the basis of a newspaper report.

Then, the court asked the legal authority to probe into the alleged incident and file a report before the court.

“The court will take its action only after receiving the report of DALSA,” the Chief Justice said.

Gangarampur police said they had arrested two persons in connection with the case. Searches are on to nab Amal Sarkar, the key accused in the case. A court remanded Gobinda Sarkar and Tapan Shil, both local residents, in judicial custody for 14 days.

The Nandanpur panchayat was building the road, for which a portion of Smritikana’s homestead was needed. She said the panchayat had tried to acquire the land without consent.

Smritikana said on Monday that her family members were still worried as some youths had come on motorcycles on Sunday night.

“They stood near our house, hurled abuses, and threatened us with dire consequences. This morning also, we saw some youths on bikes and suspect they were watching on our activities,” said Smritikana.

The teacher expressed the apprehension that she might have to confronted them again as she had to cycle 6km to her school every day. “There are deserted stretches along the route and I am frightened to cycle alone. Today, I went to the school with one of my relatives. But I cannot do it every day. I will also write to the state human rights commission,” said the schoolteacher.