An eviction drive carried out by a Bihar police team at a village under Harishchandrapur police station of Malda district on Friday night has sparked a controversy, both at the political and administrative level.

While senior BJP leaders of the district have accused Trinamul of orchestrating the eviction, administrative officials have started gathering details about the drive that police from the neighbouring state had apparently had no permission to conduct.

The 20-odd hutments on the Bengal-Bihar border are located on the land of Ganesh Pramanik, a local Trinamul leader. The families said they had been living there for 50 years.

Khagen Murmu, the BJP MP of Malda North, alleged that Pramanik had orchestrated the eviction, a charge the Trinamul leader denied.