Four migrant workers were brutally assaulted by a labour contractor and his henchmen in a kangaroo court held in the presence of the husband of the head of the local Trinamul Congress-run panchayat in Harishchandrapur on Wednesday.

The four men, who are siblings, filed complaints with the police on Thursday night and three of them are under treatment at Malda Medical College & Hospital.

This is the second incident in the past seven days where people have been assaulted in a kangaroo court in the district.

On July 12, a married couple was accused of having an “illicit affair” and bullied and humiliated at Bamangram under Kaliachak police station of the district.

Sources said Mosharaf Hossain, who is in his early 30s and resides in Harkabathan village in Malior-II panchayat under Harishchandrapur police station, had taken ₹12,000 from labour contractor Monirul Islam a few weeks ago to work as a contract labourer in Mumbai.

Mosharaf later changed his mind and returned to Harishchandrapur, which infuriated Monirul.

“On Wednesday morning, some people walked into our house and took away ₹10,000 and our cell phones. They did so on the directions of Monirul Islam and told me and my three brothers to attend a‘salishi sabha’ (kangaroo court) on the same evening,” Mosharaf said.

As the quartet reached the “sabha”, they found Abdul Rahaman, the husband of Sitara Bibi, the pradhan of the Trinamool-run Malior-I panchayat, present at the spot.

Discussions started and soon Monirul and his henchmen turned violent. “They caught hold of me and my brothers and beat us mercilessly for not working under Monirul. All four of us were badly injured and our relatives rushed us to the local hospital,” Mosharaf said.

On Thursday night, they filed a complaint against 12 persons, including Monirul.

A relative of Mosharaf said the brothers did not name Rahaman, an influential Trinamul leader in the village, in their complaint though he was present at the kangaroo court.

“Otherwise, all four of them would be in trouble,” said the relative.

Rahaman, however, claimed that “the meeting” was organised to resolve
the issue between Mosharaf and Monirul.

“I was invited by the locals to the meeting. We didn’t anticipate that the situation
would turn violent,” said Rahaman.

Police officials said they have registered a case based on the complaint. “The labour contractor and his associates have fled the village after the incident. We are in search of them,” said a police officer.