A group of Trinamool Congress supporters on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the Zilla Parishad building at Chinsurah and demanded the immediate arrest of Patra, who had resigned from the post on Monday.

Trinamool Hoogly district president Tapan Dasgupta said the CPM is trying to cover a large scale corruption carried out by Patra.

Terming his mere resignation as “insufficient”, Dasgupta said: “He should be punished for pilferage of public funds. Only CBI can book him, because we are sure the Left Front government will let him free. Why has the government not initiated a case against him?”

Sources said, only a departmental inquiry had been carried out against Patra. Acting on the allegation of the Hoogly Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), the health department has revealed there was a misuse of funds allotted for purchasing medicines for use in health centers and government hospitals in the district.

The health department inquiry has reportedly revealed that Patro approved the purchase after bypassing the District Magistrate, the ex-officio executive officer of Zilla Parishad.

“He has committed an unlawful act, which is punishable because he misused public money. What is the meaning of an inquiry to be carried by the party? This is a police case,” said a senior health department official.

Panchayat and rural development minister Anisur Rahaman, meanwhile, admitted that inquiry is being carried out by the party and not by his department.

“I do not know anything about the case because the party has carried out the inquiry and asked him to quit,” said Rahaman.

CPM sources said a section of top officials in the health department wanted to lodge a police complaint against Patra. But, a fortnight ago, an inquiry report was submitted to Health Minister Surya Kanto Mishra, who referred the case to the party, which later sacked Patra.