Elections 2019: Bharati Ghosh, a former police officer, says she has been framed by the Trinamool.
Highlights
- Bharati Ghosh is the BJP candidate from Bengal's Ghatal
- Ms Ghosh says she has been framed by the ruling Trinamool
- She was "detained" for nearly 3 hours; an FIR has been filed against her
Around 2 am at a town around 100 km from Kolkata, policemen stopped a car for a routine election season check and seized cash worth over Rs one lakh. The car owner was their former boss Bharati Ghosh, who is contesting the election as a BJP candidate from Ghatal.
The Bengal Election office has sought a report from the district magistrate. Bharati Ghosh, a former police officer, says she has been framed by the state's ruling Trinamool, whose chief Mamata Banerjee was once her mentor.
The police reportedly seized Rs 1,13,895 from her car, which was stopped at Pingla, 114 km from Kolkata.
Everyone in the car was asked to put their cash into a bag. Bharati Ghosh reportedly deposited Rs 50,000, her assistant the same and her driver, Rs 13, 895.
The former Indian Police Service officer was asked to sign the list of seized items but she refused to do so unless the two others from whom cash had been seized also signed it. The midnight drama ended with Ms Ghosh going home in her car but not before she was "detained" for nearly three hours and questioned.
"She was allowed to leave Pingla Police Station at around 2.45 AM after her questioning," an officer said.
The police have filed a First Information Report or FIR against Ms Ghosh for "preventing a government official from doing their duty and trying to intimidate them".
Ms Ghosh claims she was carrying only 50,000 personally. The rest belonged to her assistant and driver, she says. "The EC says I can carry Rs 50,000. That's what I had roughly. Police took money that my assistant was carrying, also 13,000 that the driver had," she said.
A few Trinamool leaders have demanded that Bharati Ghosh be arrested and her candidature be cancelled.
The police also submitted a report on the incident to the Bengal election body which in turn, sent its report to the Election Commission of India in Delhi.
Ghatal votes on Sunday in the sixth round of voting for the national election. Ms Ghosh is contesting against Bengali film star and Trinamool candidate Deepak Adhikary.
She recently caused a stir when she warned Trinamool supporters in her constituency that she would drag them from their homes and thrash them like dogs if they tried to prevent BJP voters from casting their vote.
Ms Ghosh was once very close to Mamata Banerjee and was known to address her as "mother". The two fell out allegedly over the former police officer's alleged involvement in a gold scam.
After what was she saw as a punishment posting, she quit the police service and joined the BJP in February. In a case filed against her in the gold scam, the Supreme Court in February put a hold on her arrest.