A mob allegedly smashed Trinamool Congress MLA Manirul Islam’s vehicle in Labhpur area of West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Saturday, and chased him, PTI reported. Islam, who is the local legislator, was forced to seek refuge at a police station.

The mob was protesting against the abduction of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suprabhat Batyabyal’s daughter. She was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 14. Her mother has lodged a police complaint.

The mob allegedly resorted to vandalism when she could not be traced. Around 3 pm, the mob surrounded Islam’s vehicle at Indus village and pelted stones at it. The police resorted to baton charge to disperse the crowd. Birbhum Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said one suspect has been detained in connection with the kidnapping.

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Islam said he later visited the woman’s family. “I talked to the family members and assured that police are trying to find their daughter,” he said. “We have already told police to act fast.”

Batyabal, who left the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP last year, was not at home when unidentified individuals kidnapped his daughter. “Five miscreants barged into the house around 8 pm on Thursday night on finding out that Suprabhat was not home,” Batyabal’s brother Sujit said on Friday. “First, they confined us in a room and locked it from outside. Then they dragged my niece out at gunpoint and forced her into a car, which was parked near our home, and drove off.”

The BJP’s Birbhum unit claimed that the kidnappers belonged to the Trinamool Congress. They also alleged that the police did “nothing effective” though they were informed of the abduction at once.

Birbhum BJP president Ramkirshna Roy told The Times of India that the kidnapping has become a “public issue”. “The police has not been able to bring her back,” he said. “We want the girl to reach her family safely.”