Kolkata, July 20 : The charge of "sexual harassment" by a woman employee of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata against West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose was engineered by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, according to a statement issued by the office of the Governor on Friday evening.

"Raj Bhavan asserts the charges are engineered by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This is a proxy war in which the Chief Minister is splurging public money by engaging high-paid lawyers. The Governor refuses to be cowed down by the dirty tricks of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and will continue his relentless fight against her corruption and violence," the statement issued by the Raj Bhavan read.

It has been claimed in the statement that immediately after May 2, when the "fabricated allegations" came to light, an in-house judicial enquiry was conducted by a former judge. The statement added that in the preliminary report of the independent in-house judicial enquiry, it was pointed out that the complainant spent approximately two hours in the police office (within Raj Bhavan) before being taken away in a police car.

"Subsequently, newspapers reported the release of a video containing details of her complaint. This video seems to have been recorded inside the police office at the North Gate of Raj Bhavan. Interestingly, the policemen stationed there appear to be closely associated with the complainant and other unidentified individuals, seemingly collaborating to fabricate a story about the Governor," the statement said.

"This, per the report, the Kolkata Police has induced and enticed the accuser and had played the role of a facilitator in the events that unfolded. Thus it transpires that the 'complainant' was taken to the police outpost inside the North Gate of Raj Bhavan and she was made to narrate a story which was videographed by the police and leaked to the media," it added.

/IANS