A panchayat office in Cooch Behar district was ransacked by alleged Trinamool supporters on Friday, soon after BJP regained control of the rural body.

At the panchayat elections held last year, the BJP had bagged the majority at Boro Soulmari, a panchayat under the Mathabhanga-II block of the district.

According to the locals, a few days back, TMC managed to coax an elected member of the BJP to defect and join the party. This left the BJP short of majority.

On Thursday, Gangadhar Mondal, the member concerned, returned to the BJP. On Friday, Sushil Barman, the BJP MLA of Mathabhanga, along with Jayanta Dey, head of the panchayat, and some other leaders organised a rally in the area to celebrate Mondal’s return.

After the BJP leaders and workers left, TMC supporters arranged a rally from their local party office.

“While their rally was moving through the area, a section of TMC supporters turned violent and ransacked the panchayat office. Some policemen were posted there but didn’t intervene,” Dey, the head of the panchayat, said.

“We will file a complaint with the police,” he added.

Local TMC leaders, however, have denied the charge. “No one from our party was involved in the act. BJP is ripped with infighting and today, the incident happened because of inner differences,” said Gopal Roy, TMC president of the panchayat area.