Around 700 employees and workers of the Trinamul Congress-run Cooch Behar municipality resorted to protests and announced an indefinite pen-down strike on Monday, alleging that police had beaten some of them at the Raasmela Ground on Sunday.

In Cooch Behar, the Raasmela — a fair on the occasion of Raas Utsav — is being held every year. While the festival at Madanmohan Temple complex is being organised by the Debottar Trust, the local civic body holds the fair. This year, the fair ended on Saturday.

“Yesterday, some policemen had resorted to highhandedness and forcing the traders who had put up stalls at the fair, to wrap up early. Some of our workers, who carry out the cleaning work, were there on the spot. They asked the police to give the traders some time so that they could take away their goods. This seems to have irked the policemen and suddenly, they resorted to lathi charge and beat up our workers,” said Alok Roy, an employee at the civic body.

On Monday morning, the employees and the workers gathered in front of the municipality and launched a protest.

“Other than essential services like drinking water supply and electricity, we will not carry out any other work unless the police apologize formally to us. How can they beat up civic workers who were in their duty,” said a protester.

Sources said on Saturday, the fair continued past midnight. Yesterday, police personnel reached the ground and asked the traders to vacate their stalls and take away their goods. At that time, the altercation ensued among the civic workers.

“The traders should be given at least a day’s time. We don’t know what made the police act in such a proactive manner,” said a senior employee.

Rabindranath Ghosh, the civic chairman and a veteran Trinamul leader in the district, was also critical of the law enforcers.

“Since Saturday night, a section of police personnel have resorted to highhandedness. They were visiting the stalls and virtually intimidating the traders so that the latter vacate the ground at the earliest. Usually after the fair, the traders take one or two days to leave with their goods. The attack on civic workers is unfortunate and has never happened in the town,” said Ghosh.

Police officers, when mentioned about the allegation, refrained from making any comment. Sources, however, said that the police have denied the lathi charge.