Kolkata: A day after the launch of ‘SACH KE SAAMNE’ (facing the truth) programme where the Governor CV Ananda Bose promised to provide CCTV footage to the first hundred citizens asking for it through an official mail address, Raj Bhavan showed the footage of its premises dating back to May 2 to 70 people.
On Thursday, Raj Bhavan released the hour-and-19-minute CCTV footage from May 2, the day when the woman contractual worker alleged she was sexually harassed by the Governor. The footage included recordings from two cameras in front of the North Gate from May 2. Footage from the two CCTVs showed the complainant approaching Raj Bhavan’s Officer-in-Charge’s (OC) room from front and rear angles.
Even as the complainant had alleged that the Governor sexually harassed her in the conference room on May 2, no footage from the inside of the Raj Bhavan was shown on Thursday. Neither was the Governor seen in any of the footage screened on Thursday.
Raj Bhavan sources said that 75 people called and registered to watch the footage.
Calls came from residents of Kolkata, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar. Many also enrolled through email. Sources said that Raj Bhavan is also compiling a report on the work profile of its contractual staff. This will include which departments they work for and how long they remain at Raj Bhavan premises. The report will be submitted to the Governor.
Reacting to the developments, Trinamool leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said that it is already known what is there in the footage which shows the woman entering Raj Bhavan and then heading towards the OC room. This was exactly what the complainant had claimed. The video corroborates her statement and nothing much. Bhattacharya questioned why Raj Bhavan instead did not hand over the footage to the police.
Meanwhile, it was reportedly learnt that the police have sent notices to at least six working staff of Raj Bhavan. Recently, citing clauses of Article 361 that extend constitutional protection to the Governor from criminal proceedings during his tenure, the staff members of Raj Bhavan were asked to refrain from giving any statement to the police in the case.