Police on Thursday arrested four persons on the basis of complaints that they were trying to “misguide” tea workers associated with INTTUC, the labour arm of the Trinamul Congress.

The INTTUC leadership said the group of men falsely introduced themselves as leaders of the trade organization, while one of them claimed he was an MP of the party.

Darjeeling district working president of INTTUC, Nirjal Dey, said the group held meetings with tea workers in four tea plantations– Merryview, Belgachi, Marapur and Matigara- near Siliguri for the past few days.

“They introduced themselves as state leaders. One Anirban Bhattacharya introduced himself as a Trinamul Congress MP and used a vehicle that had a blue beacon. He showed some documents to substantiate his claim and held a meeting at Merryview tea garden on 17 April. We contacted the state INTTUC president, Dola Sen, and she made it clear that he is neither an MP nor associated with our trade union,” Mr Dey said.

Local INTTUC leader, Dilip Toppo, who filed the complaint at the Naxalbari police station yesterday, said Mr Bhattacharya and four others had ditched them and tried to tarnish the image of the party and the organisation.

Mr Toppo is also an elected panchayat member of the Lohasingh gram sansad under the Hatighisa gram panchayat under Naxalbari Block.

The other accused persons are Manu Prasad, Santanu Patra, Asok Mahato and Md Danish. Mr Prasad is yet to be arrested by the police. District INTTUC president Arup Ratan Ghosh said the men could be associated with the BJP.

“Their intention was to create a division among the tea workers and tarnish the image of the party, but they could not be successful,” Mr Ghosh said.

Deputy Superintendent of police, rural, Darjeeling, Probir Mondal said police arrested four persons based on the complaints. Police said the accused persons were held from different areas including Kolkata, Midnapore and Jhargram.

The man who introduced himself as the MP, Mr Bhattacharya, however, claimed that he was the Confidential Assistant of the MP from West Midnapore and that there has been a confusion and misunderstanding.

“Things will be clear once investigations are over,” he said. The four accused were produced in the Siliguri Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

“The court remanded Bhattacharya in four days’ police custody, while it send the three others in four days’ judicial custody,” assistant public prosecutor of the court, Sudip Roy Basunia, said.