Calcutta HC relief for former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh's husband

In a temporary respite the Calcutta High Court today directed the CID not to arrest former IPS officer Bharati Ghoshs husband M A V Raju till March 15 in connection with its probe into a case of alleged extortion and illegal exchange of banned notes for goldHearing an anticipatory bail plea by Raju a division bench comprising justices Joymalyo Bagchi and R Bharadwaj directed Raju to cooperate with the investigators and appear before the Netaji Nagar police station once a weekThe court asked his lawyer the reason behind moving the plea for anticpatory bail since his name did not figure in the FIRRajus counsel Bhaskar Sen submitted before the court that the CID has conducted search and seizure operations at his residence and has taken away several documents and land deeds as well as other assets including gold ornaments of their household deityClaiming that Raju was facing harassment as he was the husband of Bharati Ghosh his counsel said the recent activities of the CID have made him apprehensive about his arrest in the case and that is why he has moved the court to seek anticipatory bailGhosh who was the West Midnapore superintendent of police for more than six years was transferred as commandant of the third battalion of the state armed police on December 26 last year She resigned from service two days laterShe was once considered close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and was also awarded a service medal on August 15 2014Ghosh was transferred twice once by the Election Commission before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the second time by the state itself before the 2016 Assembly elections She was however reinstated as West Midnapore SP as soon as the elections got over on both occasionsAn arrest warrant was also issued against Ghosh last week in connection with an extortion case registered at Daspur police station in West Midnapore district following her resignationThe CID probing cases relating to alleged extortion and misconduct against Ghosh had also conducted raids at various properties including a house in Kolkata that belongs to her husband RajuA few police officers of inspector and subinspector ranks have been arrested by the CID in connection with the probeDenying the harassment allegations levelled by Rajus counsel state Advocate General Kishore Datta told the court that investigations were being held into alleged extortion and cheating of a businessman by some lower level police officials in West Midnapore He claimed that a large amount of money has been recovered from the residence of Raju and his wife apart from deeds of land holdingsDatta told the court that the CID wants to question Raju to find out whether there is any connection between the alleged cheating case and the money and documents recovered He stated that Raju had not appeared before the CID even after notice was served to him citing health conditionsAfter hearing both the parties the division bench directed Raju to cooperate with the investigators In its interim order the court fixed March 12 as the next date for hearing his anticipatory bail prayerRaju was also directed by the court to appear before the Netaji Nagar police station once a weekCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go