A section of Water Development Board (WDB) contractors hailing from Bhola, joined by musclemen, locked the WDB office and attacked nine residences of its officials and employees including that of the Chief Engineer on Sunday protesting alleged irregularities in giving work for Tk seven crore work of the Bhola town protection project.

They WDB office was under lock and key till yesterday and police was deployed there.

Police confirmed the incidents.

When contacted, some of the employees said, on Sunday morning, the contractors all of a sudden swooped on the office. The scared employees rushed out. The contractors then locked the office rooms from outside. They had no time to call police, they said.

The attackers however did not

damage any property or documents, they said.

They then swooped on the residences one after another, threw brick bats, damaging window panes.

Executive Engineer Reazuddin Ahmed and his family were not at Bhola during the incidents.

When contacted, some of the contractors alleged that the Executive Engineer gave all the work to 20 groups of contractors from Comilla, his home district. They also claimed that 1013 schedules were submitted till the last date on November 12.

The work includes construction and dumping of concrete blocks in vulnerable points and repair of embankments.

The work orders were given recently. After giving the work orders, the Executive Engineer and five other officials left Bhola, they alleged.