An Awami League leader along with his supporters yesterday ransacked the office of director of Institute of Public Health and Nutrition in the capital's Mohakhali for not awarding him a work contract.

The AL leader is Haji Aslam, general secretary of ward no 20 in Mohakhali.

In this regard, IP1 IN Director Hedayatul Islam Khan filed a case with Banani Police Station in the evening.

According to the case statement, Abu Bakr Siddik, operation officer of the police station, said AL leader Aslam and his associates numbering around 25 had stormed into the room of Hedayatul around 11:45am, harassed him and ransacked his office for not getting the contract of a job of the institute.

The gang also threatened to abduct him, Siddik said.

When contacted by The Daily Star over the phone, Hedayatul, who was scared of talking to strangers, declined to make any comment.

Aslam denied ransacking the office when contacted by this correspondent. "One of my junior colleagues had accidentally struck the glass-top table, thus making it shatter. The matter ended there," he said. He also denied issuing any threat of abduction. "I am a businessman, nota criminal," said Aslam.

He, however, said he had gone to the office to urge Hedayatul to make the tender selection process more transparent.