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 I have a bank statement detailing the date and the branch from which the amount was withdrawn," Ghosh told PTI.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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Kerala court sentences 20-year-old man in minor girl rape case
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court has sentenced a 20-year-old man to 21 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl after befriending her on a social media app.
Karunagappally Fast Track Special Court judge Rajeevan Vachal sentenced the convict to 21 years under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, special public prosecutor (SPP) N C Premchandran said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.1 lakh on the convict, the prosecutor said.
The incident occurred in 2024 when the accused befriended her on a social media app and then offered to take her to the Azheekal beach here.
However, instead of taking her to the beach, he took her to an isolated place behind the CHC hospital at Mynagappally here and raped her, the SPP said.
Following the incident, the girl attempted suicide, but was saved and then told the doctors what had happened, the prosecutor said.
The hospital authorities informed the police, who registered a case and launched an investigation.
The prosecutor said that seven witnesses were examined and 20 documents were submitted before the court to substantiate the guilt of the accused.
