One of the accused is a retired IAS officer now on special duty, another a pantry staff member and the third a chaprasi (peon), the police sources said. The names of the trio have not been revealed.
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| Governor Ananda Bose and his wife show their inked fingers after voting in Thiruvananthapuram on April 26.: PTI picture |
Monalisa Chaudhuri, TT, Calcutta, 07.05.24 : The young Raj Bhavan staffer who has accused governor C.V. Ananda Bose of making “physical advances” has named at least three Raj Bhavan employees who allegedly confined her in a room, snatched her mobile phone and bag, and tried to dissuade her from lodging a police complaint, police sources said.
One of the accused is a retired IAS officer now on special duty, another a pantry staff member and the third a chaprasi (peon), the police sources said. The names of the trio have not been revealed.
“There is a specific complaint against some of the staff who allegedly tried to confine the woman in a room, snatched away her belongings and tried to stop her while she was going out of the building to report the matter to the police,” an officer attached to the probe said.
This newspaper sent a detailed text message to Bose and emails to his official ID and the office of the Raj Bhavan secretary, seeking a formal response to the allegations against the three Raj Bhavan employees whose names the woman had mentioned.
There had been no response either through text or email till Monday evening.
“According to the woman, the pantry staff member and the chaprasi tried to stop her on the officer’s instructions. She alleged that the officer confined her in the EPBX room and snatched her phone when she tried to call her mother. One of them grabbed her bag and snatched it when she tried to run out of the room, she has alleged,” an officer said.
The woman has told the police that she got her stuff back when she started screaming for help, the officer added.
The woman, a contractual employee, had on May 2 alleged two instances of physical advances by the governor. The police later recorded and videographed her detailed statement, sources said.
A senior officer attached to the probe said on Monday the police had yet to get any CCTV footage from the Raj Bhavan, and that none of the Raj Bhavan employees summoned for an enquiry had turned up.
Senior advocates and constitutional experts said the immunity that a governor enjoys against criminal proceedings does not apply to the governor’s staff.
“Even if the governor has asked the Raj Bhavan staff not to cooperate with the police, the staff are free to make their own decision. There is no legal bar on the police. They can examine the Raj Bhavan staff,” former Bengal advocate- general Jayanta Mitra told The Telegraph.
Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya said the police also had the right to start a case, if they deemed fit, against the Raj Bhavan staff members.
“The police can lodge an FIR and start a case against the Raj Bhavan staff if they feel so. The police can go anywhere for the sake of investigation, including the Raj Bhavan, and take the accused staff into custody,” Bhattacharyya said.
“As far as my understanding goes, the governor has immunity only against criminal proceedings…. The question of proceedings comes at a much later stage. (But) there is no bar on the police conducting the enquiry.”
Bose, who had left for Kochi after the allegations emerged, returned to Calcutta on Monday. He accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of “dirty politics” and alleged that she had “dragged me into politics”.
“A governor is supposed to stay away from politics…. I am very sorry that the chief minister has dragged me into politics, especially at a time when the elections are going on,” Bose said.
“I told a lot of good words about individual Mamata Banerjee. I stick to that. I spoke good words about the chief minister whom I always called my constitutional colleague. I stick to that.
“When questions were asked repeatedly about politician Mamata Banerjee, I used to say that politics is not my cup of tea, and I refused to comment.
“(But) now, because of the humiliating remarks she has made against me, against truth, I am forced to tell Mamata’s politics is dirty. Still, I pray God save her. But that is a difficult responsibility, even for God. “I will not accept, I will never accept this Didigiri on the distinguished office of the governor.”