Retd Army officer thrashed for protesting against illegal soil trade

A retired Army officer was allegedly beaten up by some local youth at Habra in North 24 Parganas on Monday after he protested against their illegal soil trading. The victim received injuries on his head and is admitted to a hospital.

Police started a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the family members of the victim. The investigators learnt that Ramkrishna Ghosh, a retired officer protested when he saw some youth excavating soil from an area for selling.

Ghosh tried to prevent them but he was attacked by them. They beat him up with iron rods. Local residents rescued Ghosh from the spot where he was lying unconscious. Investigators started raids to arrest one Unuis Mondal and his brother Ramzan Mondal, the prime accused of this incident.

"Unuis Mondal and Ramzan Mondal are brothers. They started illegal soil trade in this area. There are also some other persons who are connected to the youth," said a police officer.

However, local resident staged demonstration against the police alleging that they had failed to take steps against illegal soil traders.