Bengal CID grills IPS officer-turned-BJP candidate after she files nomination
A day after former IPS officer turned politician Bharati Ghosh filed her Lok Sabha nomination from Ghatal constituency as BJP candidate, she was questioned by West Bengal CID for eight hours. BJP supporters gathered outside Ghosh's haven to protest the questioning which ended at 6 PM. Later, Ghosh said Trinamool was employing tactics as they couldn't defeat her in the electoral battle.
Ghosh was slapped with 11 cases
A team of 16 CID officers went to a house in Chakkrishnabati in Daspur, where Ghosh was staying for her poll campaign. The sleuths were led by Indra Narayan Chakraborty. Ghosh is facing interrogation in 11 cases. While nine cases were slapped against her in 2018, two cases were filed this year. She is accused of extortion and illegally exchanging banned notes.
Ghosh said the officers wasted her campaign time
Speaking on the questioning, Ghosh said they wasted her entire campaigning time. "Meaningless issues unrelated to the case are being brought up," she added. The officers told Ghosh they would return for questioning on Saturday. "I have requested them to come for interrogation after April 22. Meanwhile, I shall also inform the Supreme Court of the development through my lawyer," she said.
Naturally, BJP slammed Trinamool over the incident
The way Ghosh was treated got Trinamool criticism from both BJP and CPM. "This is nothing but one more shameless display of the ruling party's use of the state police against political opponents," said Shishir Bajoria, a part of BJP's election committee in Bengal. Meanwhile, CPM said they want Ghosh to be properly investigated but the manner in which she was grilled was inappropriate.
We condemn interrogation's timing: CPM
"We, too, have many things to say against Bharati Ghosh, who shared a daughter-mother relation with the chief minister. We demand the charges against her (Ghosh) be properly probed. But we condemn the timing of the interrogation," said Rabin Deb of CPM.
Ghosh was once extremely close to Banerjee
Notably, Ghosh was part of Trinamool Chief Mamata Banerjee's team which cracked down Maoists. Once, Ghosh famously called Banerjee the mother of Jangalmahal (former Maoist-dominated forested areas of Bengal). However, ties between the IPS officer and the politician soured after the former allegedly grew close to Mukul Roy. After Sabang bypoll in December 2017, Ghosh was given less-significant post and she took voluntary retirement.
Ghosh joined BJP and returned Banerjee's medal
Last year, Bengal CID slapped several cases against Ghosh under non-bailable sections. She got relief from Supreme Court and in February she joined BJP in the presence of senior leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Ravi Shankar Prasad. In March, she returned a medal and certificate which Banerjee gave her in 2014 to appreciate her service. Ghosh has been pitted against movie actor Dipak Adhikari.
