A group of miscreants tried to burn a Calcutta High Court lawyer’s ancestral home in Nadia’s Chakdah and his aide, apparently because he provided free legal aid to some locals in cases against the attackers.

The fate of Mukul Biswas, a resident of Beleghata in Calcutta who visits Chakdah on weekends, could have been “much worse” had a local Trinamul leader, Subrata Das, not intervened during the incident on Friday night. Das, who happened to be passing by, alerted locals and called police.

In his complaint, Biswas has named six persons, including local Trinamul gram panchayat chief Partha Pratim De and his brother Subhasish.

“Partha and Subhasish are the main culprits,” Biswas alleged. Partha could not be reached on his cellphone for his response to the claims.

According to residents, around eight men poured petrol on the car and office chamber adjacent to the house of Biswas before setting them on fire.

“My office assistant Piku De tried to stop them. But they thrashed him and poured petrol on his body before trying to set him ablaze. But Piku managed to escape. Had it not been for Das, things could have been so much worse,” Biswas said. Residents, alerted by Das, rushed in and doused the fire.