Plaint against guv: Kolkata cops seek Raj Bhavan CCTV footage

KOLKATA: A special Calcutta Police team has sought Raj Bhavan’s CCTV footage in connection with allegations by a contractual employee that Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose harassed her. Six Raj Bhavan officials have been asked to meet the probe team on Sunday.
Having earlier rejected the charges as “engineered and malicious”, Bose described the probe as a “joke” on Saturday, arguing that the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC govt did not have the right to order it.
“Strict action will be taken not just against the CM but whoever deviates from the path of truth and justice. This is not a promise but a commitment of the governor,” Bose said in Kochi, making it clear that he would not file a defamation suit. Some Youth Congress activists waved black flags at Bose in the Kerala city.
In Kolkata, the probe team sought footage from the officer-in-charge of a police outpost at Raj Bhavan for April 24 and May 2 — the days the employee claimed she was harassed. A senior cop said the probe team would also speak to witnesses.
The probe started Friday, hours after Raj Bhavan banned late Thursday the entry of Bengal cops into the complex till the Lok Sabha polls to prevent “unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated investigations to placate political bosses during election”. State finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya was also barred. She had criticised Bose after the accusations emerged.
TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee seized on the restrictions on Saturday, saying “the people of Bengal will boycott Raj Bhavan till he (Bose) is there”. “If the governor has an iota of conscience left, he should publicly apologise,” Abhishek said.
(With inputs from Kochi)