The Mamata Banerjee Government had a lot to hide in the encounter-death case of Kishenji which was why it was conducting raids on the premises linked to retired IPS officer Bharati Ghosh — who was in charge of Midnapore when the senior Maoist leader was eliminated —Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh
has said.
The BJP leader’s statements could bear far reaching politico judicial ramifications legal experts said. In a parallel development former Midnapore SP’s husband moved the Calcutta High Court complaining police highhandedness and seeking CBI investigation into the raids that were an alleged upshot of an extortion case against the former senior cop when she was posted in Midnapore.
The State BJP president said the “CID is raiding the premises of people close to Bharati Ghosh so that she can be arrested. I am told that the State Government thinks that she is in the possession of some crucial information including the one related to the encounter deathof Kishenji. The Government is trying to extract those reports from her.”
The BJP leader also said that the Trinomial leadership feared that the former IPS officer might reveal the dark facts related to the party’s misdeeds in Midnapore along with the incidents that led to Kishenji’s encounter.
Incidentally in an apparent slip of tongue a senior Trinamool leader and MP living in South Kolkata had in a public speech had braggedabout how his Government had eliminated Kishenji and how it would not be difficult to apply the same medicine for others.
Experts felt the move to seek CBI investigation could invite trouble for Mamata Banerjee Government if “such files if really there are any handed over to them.”
The CID had in the past two days raided at least 23 locations either belonging to Ghosh or her acquaintances recovering a host of materials including gold, deeds, laptops, mobile phones, hard discs etc.
In latest developments the CID on Monday pasted a summons notice at aflat at Kolkata’s upmarket Alipore area asking the owner of the property to appear before the Agency officers at the CID headquarters at Bhawani Bhawan. Soon Ghosh’s husband said that the property where the notice was pasted had been inherited by Ghosh her ancestors.
In a separate incident the CID arrested one HK Singh a care taker of Ghosh’s house on charges of a betting extortion. A jewellery merchant at Daspur in Midnapore had earlier brought extortion charges againstGhosh and some other police officers saying during demonetisation huge amount of cash was exchanged in lieu of old currency but the full and real value of the jewellery thus obtained from him was never paid despite repeated reminders.
Dilip Ghosh’s statement apart, the former IPS officer’s husband on Monday moved the Calcutta High Court praying for CBI investigation into the alleged CID high handedness. He sought CBI investigation saying the State Government was harassing his wife without any basis and specific complaints being lodged against her.
Ghosh once considered the fair-haired girl of Mamata Banerjee lost Chief Minister’s favour after Sabang by-elections conducted late last year. She was summarily transferred from her five-year-long posting at Midnapore to a less consequential post in the wake of BJP’s exemplary show at the by-elections when the ruling TMC reportedly lost a good number of votes to the saffron outfit.
Though Ghosh often addressed the Chief Minister as Maa (mother) during her hey days she was always looked at with suspicion for her proximity to BJP leader (former Mamata Banerjee-Man Friday) Mukul Roy. She was shoved out of her priced posting after the BJP’s good show at Sabangand consequently resigned as the SP of Midnapore on December 28.