CID seals former Bengal police officer’s lockers, grills husband

MIDNAPORE(WESTBENGAL): Trouble intensified for former IPS officer and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s confidante Bharati Ghosh, with Bengal CID sleuths grilling her husband and sealing bank lockers held by them.

On Tuesday, CID grilled Ghosh’s husband MAV Raju, even as the 52-year-old former IPS officer remains to be traced.

The officials then visited a bank in south Kolkata to examine the contents of two lockers held by the couple. By the evening, both the lockers were sealed.

“The gold that I possess was declared before I joined the police force. My father, a ‘zamindar’ of Madhupur, had gifted me the gold at the time of my marriage. The CID is trying to malign me under instructions from the state government,” Ghosh said in an audio message circulated from an undisclosed location.

“Bharati Ghosh will not remain silent. The court will examine the role of CID and I will move higher court,” she added.

Earlier in the day, CID also produced Pradip Rath, former inspector-in-charge of Belda police station in West Midnapore district, in court. He was sent to police custody for six days.

“Rath needs to be interrogated. So the court granted police his custody,” said Subhasish Chakraborty, assistant public prosecutor of Ghatal court.

On February 1, Chandan Maji, a resident of the district, lodged a complaint at Ghatal subdivisional court alleging extortion and cheating against police. The court directed CID to investigate.

On February 9, the court issued arrest warrant against Bharati Ghosh and her bodyguard Sujit Mondal, a constable.

The CID has so far arrested five police officers in connection with the case. Police, too, have arrested Rajmangal Singh, caretaker of an apartment in Kolkata where Ghosh and Raju own flats.

The CID officers also claimed to have found ~2.4 crore in cash and gold during raids at apartments and houses allegedly owned by Ghosh, her husband and other police officers.