A longstanding land dispute between a resident of East Midnapore’s Kendemari village and a group of youths of the area has threatened to spill over into bloodshed when the daughters of landowner Bhimcharan Das have been threatened with arson.

Sisters Nilima and Kakoli Mondal were threatened by a gang of youths known to them, at their home, on Sunday night while their father was away. Police on Friday arrested five persons in this connection.

‘‘These youths have been hell-bent on extricating a 0.03acre parcel of land from Bhimcharan that the latter had agreed to donate in good faith towards the construction of a temple: an offer that he rescinded when it turned out the youths just wanted to build a club,’’ said a neighbour, explaining that the matter had begun a few years ago.

On Sunday, the sisters were verbally abused and were told they would be ‘‘socially cast out’’ if their father did

not yield. The police intervened that night, at Bhimcharan’s behest, resulting in a meeting of villagers the next morning.

‘‘The open sabha (meeting) angered all villagers, and turned sentiment against the landowning family. Their decision to involve the police sparked the next round of retaliation from the youths,’’ said a source.

On Tuesday night, goons circled Bhimcharan’s home and began dousing the surrounding ground with kerosene.

‘‘As soon as I saw this, I called the police. If it weren’t for their quick response, I would not have been here today,’’ said Nilima on Friday, adding that she was ‘‘relieved’’ at the arrests.

A Haldia court denied bail to all five suspects and remanded them in five days of police custody.

Additional superintendent of police (Haldia), Partha Ghosh, said: ‘‘We are aware of the land dispute that led to attempted arson. We have received a complaint in this regard and have arrested five persons.’’

Nilima alleged later on Friday that hers was a ‘‘Trinamul family’’ and that she had seen ‘‘known BJP faces’’ amongst the goons on Tuesday.

BJP district vice president Pralay Pal played down the allegations, claiming that the goons were Trinamul workers ‘‘involved in infighting”.

‘‘They have not learned their lesson from Bogtui,’’ he added.