A Raj Bhavan staff member has allegedly been asked not to report to work after he tried to help the woman who lodged a complaint of physical harassment against governor C.V. Ananda Bose, sources in Kolkata Police said.

The police said they had recorded his statement.

The man has applied for earned leave through an online portal to regularise his absence from May 5 but does not know when he will be able to rejoin, he has told the police.

His leave period would expire next week, Raj Bhavan sources said.

The man is posted as a cook at Raj Bhavan.

This newspaper contacted the cook seeking a reaction but he refused to speak. “I am not authorised to speak,” he said before disconnecting the call.

According to his statement to the police, on May 2, he saw the woman rushing out of the governor’s room on the first floor before she went into the epabx (telephone exchange) room in the same corridor crying, the police said.

“According to him, the woman had rushed into the epabx room crying. When he went there, he saw the woman sitting on the floor screaming and crying. He said she was very agitated and was fuming about how someone could touch her like that. But before he could speak further, two senior Raj Bhavan officials entered the room and locked the door from inside and asked him to leave, he said,” said an officer who is part of the enquiry team.

The police said the cook kept knocking on the door as he heard the woman shouting in agitation inside, the officer said. “The door was opened and the man was asked why he was still around,” the officer said.

Raj Bhavan sources said there were other staff and food testers from the SPG in the pantry on the same corridor when the alleged incident happened. Preparations were being made for the scheduled arrival of the Prime Minister later that day.

On May 4, the cook was asked not to report to duty, the police said. Sources in Raj Bhavan said he was given “verbal instructions over the phone”.

“When he asked what his fault was, he was told the situation was bad,” a source in Raj Bhavan said.

The cook stopped attending office from May 5 and later applied for earned leave to regularise his absence, a source in Raj Bhavan said.

A text message sent to governor Bose and emails sent to his formal ID and that of his secretary asking why the staff member was asked not to report for duty after the incident did not yield any response till Saturday night.

Raj Bhavan sources said the Governor’s House had a separate bakery and confectionery where cakes, cookies and pastries for Raj Bhavan guests and dignitaries are baked. The cook, however, was a part of the main kitchen where main courses are made.

According to a source, this staff member is an accomplished cook and a former governor and his wife were especially fond of his culinary skills. “They (a former governor and his wife) would take him along wherever they went,” an insider said.