A Rs 30-crore project that can generate 400 jobs near Siliguri has hit the syndicate hurdle, prompting the promoter to stop the construction and knock on the doors of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“Some local youths have been tormenting me for some time. I didn’t have any option but to stop the construction. I have also approached the chief minister’s office,” said Vishal Agarwal, the promoter of a showroom-cum-service centre-cum-stockyard of Tata Motors’ commercial vehicles coming up on a 10-bigha plot at Bandhunagar in Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri.

The plot is about 20km from Siliguri. The site has a geographical advantage as it is located near NH31D which connects Ghoshpukur near Siliguri with Salsalabari in Assam, said the promoter.

“We have a plan to make the unit functional by April next year. But I am not sure whether the deadline could be met,” Agarwal said.

The promoter said the workers engaged under the project had recently been prevented from entering the site by the youths who demanded that construction materials be procured from them at a premium.

Agarwal said construction at the site had started on November 1. “After we refused to buy inferior quality materials, the youths demanded Rs 10 lakh. When we refused to pay the amount, the youths entered the project site and ransacked few temporary structures and a portion of the boundary wall. They also took away construction equipment and materials worth Rs 8 lakh,” Agarwal added.

Soon after, the promoter lodged a complaint with the Ambari police outpost of Siliguri Metropolitan Police and also sent an e-mail to the chief minister’s office on November 23 seeking her intervention.

“But the situation has not change till now,” he said.

Sources said the e-mail sent to the chief minister mentioned the name of a local Trinamul panchayat leader, Zakir Hussain, who had allegedly led the youths.

Hussain, a member of Binnaguri panchayat, where the project is coming up, brushed aside the charges. “A section of residents had resorted to protests over some issues at the project site. As I am the panchayat member, the police called me. I went there and helped restore normalcy. We don’t know why work has stopped. We always abide by our party chief’s instruction that none of us should be involved in any kind of syndicates or illegal practices,” said Hussain.

Khageswar Roy, the Trinamul MLA of Rajganj, held an informal meeting with both the sides. “At the meeting, we clearly said none from our party should make any move that could cause any inconvenience at the project site,” Roy told The Telegraph.

Complaints against alleged Trinamul-backed syndicates are nothing new in and around Siliguri. A number of real estate developers often complained that how they had been forced to buy construction materials of inferior quality from the syndicates at much higher prices.