Officers of Muchipara police station allegedly broke open the main door of the house of BJP leader Sajal Ghosh to take him into custody on Friday afternoon, following allegations of assault on a Trinamul leader’s wife and an attack on a shop.

People in the neighbourhood said trouble started on Thursday night after the wife of a local Trinamul leader accused two BJP supporters of molesting her. The accused were arrested soon after.

Ghosh allegedly led an attack on a shop off Raja Rammohan Sarani on Friday morning, possibly to protest his supporters’ arrests.

After receiving a complaint from the shop’s owner, a team from Muchipara police station went to Ghosh’s house, near Santosh Mitra Square. “As the family was not opening the door, an officer told them through an open window that an FIR had been registered against Ghosh and he was expected to go to the police station,” said a source.

The officer warned the family that if Ghosh refused to cooperate with the police, they would be forced to break open the door.

Minutes later, three officers allegedly took turns kicking the door until it gave away. Ghosh was taken out and escorted to Muchipara police station, a few hundred metres from his home.

Officers not handling the case said it was unusual for the police to break into the home of an accused unless he or she was a criminal with flight risk.

Bengal BJP president

Dilip Ghosh condemned the cop action: “Is he a criminal? Was he absconding?” Ghosh said.

Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “The incident with the door was undesirable. But equally unacceptable are the inflammatory threats being issued by the BJP over the incident.”