Suri (West Bengal): Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondol today alleged that Leader of Opposition assembly Abdul Mannan and CPI-M leader Bikash Bhattacharya were trying to “play dirty politics” with land near Bolpur where the state government has decided to set up a university and housing project.

He also threatened to “break their legs” if they try to come to the place at Shibpur again.

“I don’t know who is Mannan or who is a big CPI-M leader. If they come again their legs will be broken”, Mondol, the TMC Birbhum district president said in front of the police.

Many will get their livelihood in those projects but the two leaders were “playing dirty politics”, he alleged.

Police stopped the opposition leaders at a place at Bolpur by-pass around three km from the project site at Shibpur.

Additional police superintendent of Birbhum Amlankusum Ghosh said CPI-M leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and Abdul Mannan of Congress were stopped by the police on their way to Shibpur near the Bolpur-Illambazar Road apprehending “law and order disruption”.

Bhattacharya said that they were detained for around two hours by a huge force led by the additional superintendent of police and was finally forced to leave the area.

The two were schedueld to address a public meeting organised by farmers of Shibpur who demanded that their agricultural land taken away for the project be returned to them.

The state government has plans to set up a university and housing project on the 300-acre land, which was initially acquired by the erstwhile Left Front government to set up an industrial hub.

But the project could not attract entrepreneurs.

Referring to the threat by the TMC leader, Bhattacharya said that he was not afraid by such threats. “I will come again”, he said.

Mannan said that it was beneath his dignity to comment on such threats.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should say whether she approves of such utterances by her party leader, he added.

Mondol had in the past courted controversy by his statements against the opposition.