Krishnagar, Aug. 26: A BSNL employee was thrashed on Sunday because he refused to pay a puja subscription of Rs 6,000.

The assailants of 50-year-old Barindranath Pal were members of a local club at Radhanagar, around 85km from Calcutta. The club members had allegedly told local government employees, teachers and businessmen last month that nothing less than Rs 6,000 would be accepted.

Barindranath, among the few voices of protest against the demand, was assaulted on Sunday night when the members had come to collect the subscription from a neighbour who was also reluctant to pay such a big sum.

“He protested the extortion and had to pay the price,” said Barindranath’s son-in-law Rabindranath, also a BSNL employee.

Rabindranath said his father-in-law had stood by his neighbour, schoolteacher Anil Biswas, 52, in resisting the demand.