A civic volunteer in North Dinajpur has been arrested on Monday night for molesting the wife and daughter of a Trinamool leader and for trying to extort money from them.

“We received a complaint that a civic volunteer had molested a woman and her daughter and also tried to extort money from them. The concerned person has been arrested and we are probing the case,” said Dendup Sherpa, the additional superintendent of police of Islampur police district in North Dinajpur.

Sources said Mohammad Nazmul, the accused, entered the house of the TMC leader who is known to be a close aide of a Trinamool MLA of the district. He molested the leader’s wife and daughter and demanded around ₹3 lakh from them.

As the incident has come to light, particularly at a time when Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer posted under Kolkata police has been accused of raping and murdering the doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta, district TMC leaders were quick to demand exemplary punishment for Nazmul.

“The police have arrested him. We want the law to take its course. The accused should be punished for such act,” said Kanaialal Agarwala, the district TMC president of North Dinajpur.

The BJP however, has pointed out that the police delayed acting on the case. Surajit Sen, a district vice-president of the party, said the complaint was filed around ten days back.

“The incident has proved that the law and order situation in the state is in shambles and even the women family members of TMC leaders are not safe. It is surprising that though the complaint was filed ten days back, the civic volunteer was arrested yesterday,” said Sen.

BJP’s protest

BJP supporters led by the party’s state chief and Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar, staged a demonstration at the district magistrate’s office in Balurghat on Tuesday.