Kolkata, May 10: Bharati Ghosh, a former police officer who is now contesting Lok Sabha election from Ghatal as BJP candidate, has come under scanner of the Election Commission after West Bengal policemen recovered cash worth over one lakh from her car at around 11 pm on Thursday. Bharati Ghosh was detained by cops for four hours after Rs 1.13 lakh was seized from her vehicle.

The Election Commission sought a report from district magistrate regarding the incident. According to reports, the police recovered Rs 1,13,895 from Ghosh's car, which was stopped at Pingla, 114 km from Kolkata. Cops stopped her vehicle for a routine election season check and asked everyone to put their cash into a bag. Ghosh reportedly deposited Rs 50,000.

"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," a police officer told news agency PTI. "She was allowed to leave Pingla Police Station at around 2.45 AM after her questioning," the officer added. Bharati Ghosh, BJP Ghatal Lok Sabha Candidate, Threatens to 'Beat TMC Workers Like a Dog’.

As workers of Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that Ghosh was carrying cash to bribe voters, the former Indian Police Service officer said it was for her personal use. "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 I have a bank statement detailing the date and the branch from which the amount was withdrawn," Ghosh told PTI.

While the police filed an FIR against Ghosh for "preventing a government official from doing their duty and trying to intimidate them", the Election Commission is yet to receive any complaint in this connection. BJP fielded Ghosh, who was once very close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, against Bengali film star and TMC candidate Deepak Adhikary, popularly known as Dev.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2019 08:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).