Bengal school teacher tied up, dragged and locked inside house

A high school teacher was tied up, dragged for some distance, and locked inside a house by alleged Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters in a bid to acquire her land forcibly for a village road in West Bengals South Dinajpur district, police said on Monday. The woman identified as BJP supporter Smritikana Das, her mother, and other family members were also assaulted by the group, led by panchayat members, at Nandanpur in Gangarampur block, the police said. So far nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident that took place on Friday. A video grab of the purported attack showed Nandanpur panchayat 'upa-pradhan' (deputy chief) Amal Sarkar and some others involved in the act, the police said.

The TMC district leadership on Sunday expelled Sarkar for his alleged involvement in the incident, party sources said. The video showed that the teacher fell down on the road when the attackers tied her hands and legs and dragged her for nearly 30ft while raining blows on her.

The attackers then locked her up at a house belonging to a TMC block-level worker. Her sister, Soma, was also beaten up by the attackers when she went to Smritikana's rescue. The teacher, who was discharged from a local hospital after preliminary treatment, lodged a complaint against Sarkar and four TMC supporters at Gangarampur police station, a police officer said. "We are probing the incident and also talking to eyewitnesses," he said.

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