Cash seized from BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh's car: Police
Ghatal: With two days left for Ghatal constituency to go to polls, the police has seized Rs 1.13 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 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 I have a bank statement detailing the date and the branch from which the amount was withdrawn," Ghosh told PTI.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.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
