West Bengal: Rs 1.13 lakh seized from BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh's car

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Ghatal: With two days left for Ghatal constituency to go to polls, the police has seized Rs 1.13 lakh 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 PM on Thursday, he said.

"Cash amounting to Rs 1,13,815 was seized from Ghosh's vehicle. We had information that Ghosh was carrying the 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 PTI.

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 2.45 AM after her questioning," the officer said.

Trinamool Congress 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 convenor and driver in my car. My convenor 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 I have a bank statement detailing the date and the branch from which the amount was withdrawn," Ghosh told PTI.

"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 said.

The EC was 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 senior official of the CEO's office here said.

Ghosh is contesting from Ghatal Lok Sabha seat, where she is pitted against Bengali film star and Trinamool Congress candidate Deepak Adhikary, popularly known as Dev.