BJP workers led by party MLA Swadhin Sarkar demonstrated in front of Baishnabnagar police station on Thursday against the arrest of two persons suspected to be fake Indian currency note (FICN) peddlers.

Both of them are BJP party supporters implicated in false charges, the protesters said.

On Thursday morning, a special team of Baishnabnagar police station and special task force jointly raided the house of Dhananjay Mandal, a member of Bakhrabad panchayat.

They found fake notes of Rs 3.26 lakh in denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 from his house. Dhananjay and his brother Amrit were arrested.

Later, as police officers were preparing to take the duo to court, around 100 BJP supporters, along with MLA Sarkar, reached the police station and demanded the immediate release of the brothers.

“Both of them joined BJP on December 26 and Trinamul is being vindictive and implicating them in false cases,” said MLA Sarkar.

During the protests, some BJP workers tried to stop the police from taking the duo to court, standing in front of a police vehicle carrying the brothers.

Policemen used their batons to disperse the BJP supporters, BJP supporters alleged.

Sarkar said some of their supporters suffered baton injuries.

Senior police officers, however, denied the charge.

“Some people were trying to deter our men from taking two the FICN peddlers to court. They were merely pushed away. We did not use batons,” said Malda SP Alok Rajoria.

Trinamul scoffed at the saffron camp.

“On one hand, BJP leaders are claiming that the Centre is taking steps against cattle and coal smuggling. On the other hand, a BJP MLA and his party workers are trying to prevent police from taking steps against FICN peddlers. This shows the double-faced nature of the BJP,” said Subhamay Bose, a district spokesman of Trinamul.