The three Raj Bhavan staffers who have been named in the FIR in connection with the alleged physical harassment by governor C.V. Ananda Bose and were summoned to Hare Street police station on Sunday did not appear before police, officers said.

A fresh summons will be issued against them, sources in Kolkata Police said.

Non-compliance with multiple summons could lead to the issuance of an arrest warrant against the three accused staffers, the police said.

During the investigation, the police are said to have learned that one of the three FIR-named staffers had flown out of Calcutta on Friday morning, hours after charges had been drawn in connection with the alleged harassment of a junior Raj Bhavan staffer by the governor on the Raj Bhavan premises.

The three named in the FIR, according to the police, are officer on special duty Sandip Singh Rajput, pantry staffer Kusum Chhetri and chaprasi (peon) Sant Lal.

Text messages sent by The Telegraph on Sunday evening to the three FIR-named Raj Bhavan staffers, asking why they had not appeared before the police, did not yield any
response till late in the evening.

The FIR was registered based on a report submitted by a special enquiry team to Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal last Saturday.

The city police had last Friday submitted a report to the office of the state home secretary in connection with a separate complaint of physical harassment, lodged by a dancer, against the governor.

As the governor enjoys constitutional immunity, the police cannot register an FIR against Bose.

Although Bose had issued a gag order to Raj Bhavan staffers in connection with the police enquiry on the complaint lodged by the junior staffer, the staff members do not enjoy any immunity from legal proceedings and hence, formal charges have been drawn against them.

The trio have been accused of wrongful restraint and trying to stop the woman who complained against the governor from going to the police. The three had allegedly locked the complainant in the EPABX room, on the first floor of Raj Bhavan, on May 2.

A senior criminal lawyer said the police could move court and plead for an arrest warrant against the three accused staffers if they keep ignoring the summons without citing a valid reason.

An officer involved in the probe said that for now, they have decided to issue a fresh summons and persuade them to join the investigation.

The junior staffer has complained that the governor physically harassed her on April 24 and again on May 2.