Ghatal (West Bengal): With two days left for this constituency to go to polls, the police has allegedly seized Rs 1.13 lakh cash from the vehicle of BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh late Thursday night, a senior police officer said Friday.
The car in which the former IPS officer was travelling was intercepted at Mangal Bar in Pingla area in West Midnapore district at around 11.00pm Thursday, the officer stated.
“Cash amounting to Rs 1,13,815 was seized from Ghosh’s vehicle. We had information that Ghosh was carrying cash. There were also other people in her vehicle. She could not explain why she was carrying the money. We are looking into the matter,” the police officer told this agency.
Ghosh was detained for almost three hours by the district police and questioned in connection with the seizure. “She was allowed to leave Pingla Police Station at around 2.45am after her questioning,” the officer added.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in the area alleged that Ghosh was carrying the money for ‘influencing voters’.
Ghosh, however, denied the allegations and claimed that the amount was for her personal expenses. “I was carrying only Rs 50,000 on me. I had my district party convener and driver in my car. My convener had around Rs 49,000 with him and the driver was carrying Rs 13,000. I have a bank statement detailing the date and the branch from which the amount was withdrawn,” Ghosh informed.
“The money was for meeting my personal expenses and not what the TMC is alleging. And the amount I had in my bag did not violate any norm of the Election Commission’s model code of conduct,” Ghosh added.
The EC is yet to receive any complaint in this connection. “We have not received any complaint so far. We have asked our officials to look into the matter,” a staff of the CEO’s office here said.
Ghosh is contesting against Bengali film star and TMC candidate Deepak Adhikary, popularly known as Dev.