Ruling party men allegedly beat a contractor in presence of police and snatched tender schedule from him in front of the civil surgeons (CS) office in the district yesterday.

Talking to local journalists victim Habibur Rahman from Khulna alleged that some young men beat him up severely when he just arrived there around 12:15pm for dropping schedules of a bid for supplying medical and surgical requisites (MSR) for Magura Sadar Hospital.

They also snatched the schedule from him and later returned the bank draft attached with the schedule, said Habibur who came there on behalf of APC Pharmaceuticals.

“As they attacked me in presence of police personnel I was forced to take shelter at the office room of the civil surgeon,” he said.

Some cadres allegedly belonging to Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Awami Jubo League from the morning took position in front of the CS office and obstructed the contractors to drop schedules.

Some contractors wishing anonymity told this correspondent that to win the bid, pro-BCL and pro-Juba League contractors held a meeting at the conference room of the hospital on Tuesday night. At one stage, two rival groups of contractors were locked in a scuffle. After a while, they took a unanimous decision to prevent general contractors from dropping schedules to win the bid.

When contacted, Civil Surgeon Dr AKM Mahfuzul Kabir expressed his ignorance about holding of any meeting by any quarter.

He, however, said he heard about the attack and assured the contractor of taking necessary action if anybody submits a written complaint in this connection.

The contractors said they bought 47 schedules to take part in the bid and yesterday was the last date of tender dropping. But when asked, the civil surgeon could not confirm the number of schedules sold and dropped.