Police to probe molestation allegation against guv

THE West Bengal police have launched an inquiry into the molestation allegation against Governor C V Ananda Bose.

A contractual woman employee on Thursday evening had lodged a police complaint at the Hare Street Police station accusing Bose of molesting her.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbed the incident as "deeply distressing", and claimed that the same governor who showed great urgency in reaching Sandeshkhali now stands accused of molesting a female staff at Raj Bhavan".

Banerjee also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue.

"You (PM) are saying so many things in Sandeshkhali. We had taken necessary action the moment we found some aberrations. But you spent the entire night at Raj Bhavan even after the allegations by the hapless woman came to light. Why are you silent?," she asked at a second rally at Purbasthali in Purba Bardhaman district.

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Meanwhile, Bose said he expected more such allegations to surface but that would not deter him from his "determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence" in the state.

"I welcome all the generous allegations and the frequent innuendoes passed on me by some political forces. I understand, my friends, there is more in the offing. But one thing is clear, none of the absurd dramas is going to deter me from my determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence," Bose said in a recorded statement released by Raj Bhavan.

Bose mocked the allegations, saying one day he would also be blamed for the Great Bengal Famine of 1943 as well as the '1946 Calcutta Killings'. "That is the nature of the political forces working in the state," he said.

Notably, under Article 361 of the Indian Constitution, no criminal proceedings can be instituted against a governor during his term in office.