A tea worker sustained a bullet wound when a group of workers clashed with some alleged goons over the possession of a tea plantation in Chopra block of North Dinajpur on Friday morning.

Police brought the situation under control, seizing two double-barrelled guns and arresting two persons.

Sources said a Siliguri resident owned the 27-acre tea plantation at Hingalgach village of Chopra block.

Recently, some alleged goons mounted pressure on him to sell off the plantation to them, which prompted the 40-odd plantation workers to object to the sale and express fears that they would be jobless if the plantation changed hands, a local source said.

“Some of them, in fact, had proposed to the owner to sell off a part of the plantation to them. A few days back, the owner caved in to the goons and sold off the plantation to them. The workers’ fears turned out to be correct and they were told that their services would not be required anymore,” said the source.

On Friday, a gang of armed goons reached the site to take control of the plantation.

As the news of their arrival spread, jobless workers tried to stop them. The goons allegedly fired gunshots at the workers. One of the workers, Akbar Ali, was hit by a bullet and admitted to the subdivisional hospital in Islampur.

A Chopra police team dispersed the workers. They found two double-barrelled guns from the site and arrested two suspected goons. “The situation is under control in Hingalgach. Our men are posted in the area and searches are on to nab others who had perpetrated the violence,” said a police officer.