Trinamul Congress workers have been accused of taking away from a youth club four sacks of rice donated by a social organisation for Cyclone Yaas victims at Hingalganj in North 24-Parganas.
The alleged misappropriation of relief material, which came to light on Tuesday morning, left residents of the Katakhali-Boltala area angry and they blocked the Basirhat-Hingalganj road for an hour demanding a probe. The blockade was withdrawn after Hingalganj block development officer Saswata Prakash Lahiri assured the protesters of the probe.
Several homes collapsed and vast tracts of land were inundated in Hingalganj during Cyclone Yaas on May 26.
The villagers alleged that aides to local panchayat member Sarafat Gaji had taken away four sacks of rice from the club room.
“A social organisation provided us with rice and other items for daily cooking. We stored all the items at the club. But the panchayat member’s men took away rice without informing us. The panchayat member couldn’t give a satisfactory reply,” said a villager.
Rejecting the allegation, Gaji said: “Four sacks of rice were actually taken out for sale to pay six cooks who have been tirelessly cooking twice every day for about 600 people for the past two weeks at the community kitchen. Since we have no provision to make such payment, we collectively decided to sell the rice to arrange for their payment because we have enough stock of rice to meet the daily needs.”
BDO Lahiri said: “I advised villagers to lodge a written complaint to conduct a probe. But till evening, no complaint has been lodged.”
