An alleged Trinamool Congress functionary in Sonarpur, Jamaluddin Sardar, who has been accused of assaulting women by tying them up with iron chains, has now been accused of hanging a man upside down and assaulting his wife after the man refused to participate in a kangaroo court allegedly organised by Sardar.

The emergence of such complaints against a ruling party functionary has created unease in the party, prompting the Trinamool MLA from Sonarpur Dakshin, Lovely Maitra, to formally disassociate Sardar from the party on Wednesday.

“Jamaluddin Sardar is not related to the Trinamool Congress in any way. Whatever the allegations are against him, the law will take its course,” Maitra said.

Earlier, a woman named Rashida Bibi had alleged that she had been confined in Sardar’s house in Sonarpur’s Pratapnagar and her legs were tied in chains.

On Wednesday, a complaint emerged that Sardar hung a man upside down and assaulted his wife when she tried to save her husband.

Rubyjaan Bibi, a resident of Sonarpur, said on Wednesday her husband Shahrukh Sheikh was hung from the ceiling upside down and tortured and she, too, was assaulted and tied up with chains when she tried to protest the assaults on her husband in Sardar’s house a few weeks ago.

The police on Wednesday raided the house of Sardar and found it locked and empty. The house, which stands in a sprawling compound, has 50-odd CCTV cameras.

Several bamboo sticks, shackles and iron chains were found in the house. The police suspect those were used to confine people, as alleged by several residents of the neighbourhood.

A resident of the locality said: “Jamal-da would solve our problems. We would all go to him if the police did not accept complaints and he would help us get justice by holding a kangaroo court. If someone did not cooperate, Jamal-da would punish him. But he would help all the villagers in general.”

Others said Sardar used his political clout to grab plots of land whose documents have minor discrepancies.

Senior officers of the Baruipur police directorate said they were investigating all allegations reported against Sardar.

The police said a search has been launched to locate and arrest Sardar.

Tonsured

A woman suspected to have stolen ₹20 lakh from her employer’s house in Howrah’s Domjur was tonsured by a mob, which allegedly included family members of
the employer. The matter was not reported to the police. Cops, however, learned about it only after the video of the tonsuring emerged on social media.