North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh on Tuesday faced protests from alleged BJP supporters in his Cooch Behar Assembly constituency of Natabari, the mobs chanting “go back” slogans and waving flags at the Trinamul leader.

Ghosh, also the Trinamul chief of Cooch Behar, ran into the irate groups during a tour to “reclaim” Trinamul offices which the BJP has allegedly “encroached” on after winning the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat.

When police tried to disperse the demonstrators with batons, the mobs attacked the cops and blocked a key road.

The trouble began at Dauaguri, 10km from here, when Ghosh was talking to some party workers. A mob gathered and started shouting slogans. “This is my native village and you are shouting slogans against me. Go to your homes and ask your father and uncles whether they support such an act,” the minister told the mob.

The protests continued with chants of “Go back Rabi Ghosh” till the minister left. “I will not sit at home fearing such demonstrations. I have taken back two offices of our party which the BJP had encroached,” Ghosh said later.

BJP leaders denied the encroachment charges. “We did not occupy any office of Trinamul. Some Trinamul dissidents may be involved,” said Malati Rava, the district BJP chief.