A Howrah businessman was beaten up and his security guard left with a head injury allegedly after he refused to pay Rs 1 crore to a group of youths from a local club.

Manas Roy, who has a mineral water manufacturing unit in Domjur, about 21 km from the heart of Calcutta, said he had earlier given small amounts of money to these youths on the pretext of picnics and religious festivals but he failed to fulfil their demand when the amount escalated to Rs 1 crore.

Police said an existing dispute over erection of a boundary wall between two plots could be in the heart of the dispute.

The security guard, Gopal Ghosh, who suffered head injuries in the attack Telegraph picture

Police officers suspect that the owner of the adjoining plot, who had objected to the businessman erecting the wall, could have employed members of the local club who attacked Roy and his guard on Friday night.

According to Roy, around 25 to 30 men came to his Domjur factory on Friday night around 10pm when the incident happened.

“This is not the first time that they were asking for money. In fact, I have paid them on at least five occasions. Their demand would usually range between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, but when they asked for Rs 1 crore, it was way beyond my means,” Roy said.

A series of stills obtained from CCTV camera footage show a group of men beating up a security guard at the Domjur factory on Friday night. The stills are from CCTV camera installed at the factory complex.

He added that when he refused to pay, one of them started pushing him, snatched his phone and smashed it and tore away his gold chain.

His security guard, Gopal Ghosh, who was standing nearby, tried to intervene but was outnumbered.

A series of stills obtained from CCTV camera footage show a group of men beating up a security guard at the Domjur factory on Friday night. The stills are from CCTV camera installed at the factory complex.

“When I tried to protect sir, they targeted me. They pinned me down to the ground. One of them had a sharp weapon with which they hit me on my hand. Another was carrying a rod. They all hit me and kicked me,” Ghosh said.

The youths fled only after they saw that Ghosh had a revolver.

A senior officer of the Domjur police station said it was suspected that the attempted extortion was to put pressure on Roy to stop erecting the boundary wall around his factory.

A series of stills obtained from CCTV camera footage show a group of men beating up a security guard at the Domjur factory on Friday night. The stills are from CCTV camera installed at the factory complex.

One of the accused youths was identified as Gopinath Patro, who was arrested by officers of Domjur police station on Saturday following a complaint lodged by Roy. Search is on to arrest the other gang members.

“Earlier, Patro had asked for money for feast or for some puja. He is from a local club, but a rowdy.” Roy said.

A retired police officer said the number of such extortion cases by hired goons had gone down in the past few years. “But if such things are happening again, it is a reason for concern. The police should see whether they are getting political patronage,” said the retired IPS officer said.

Earlier this week, a businessman was allegedly kidnapped and held hostage in his own office against a ransom demand of Rs 200 crore in New Alipore. Although the police later found that the incident was the outcome of an old dispute, the act of daylight abduction and opening fire was a sign of lawlessness.