Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived Monday at the CBI office here. This happened after two of her ministers and a TMC MLA were arrested in the Narada sting operation case. Mamata Banerjee, who reached the Nizam Palace at around 11.00am said she will sit on a ‘dharna’ till she is also not ‘arrested’. Banerjee said her protest will continue and she will see the ‘end’ of this issue.
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC legislator Madan Mitra were arrested Monday morning by the CBI. Former minister Sovan Chatterjee was also arrested in the same case.
The chief minister had reportedly gone to Hakim’s residence in Chetla locality before making her way to the CBI office.
Earlier on the day, the CBI made the arrests in connection with the Narada sting case. In the operation, politicians were purportedly caught taking money on camera. The CBI said later in the day it will file a charge sheet against them and another accused, officials said. All four of the arrested were ministers during the time of the alleged commission of the offence in 2014, CBI officials said. IPS officer SMH Meerza, who is out on bail, is the fifth accused in the case.
CBI sources said Banerjee’s actions are akin to interference in the probe handed over to the agency by the Calcutta High Court.
“The CBI has today arrested four then (former) ministers, government of West Bengal in a case related to the Narada sting operation. It was alleged that then public servants were caught on camera while receiving illegal gratification from the sting operator,” CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said in Delhi. The charge sheet against the five accused persons, for whom prosecution sanction has been received, is being submitted, he said.
The CBI had approached West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar seeking sanction to prosecute Hakim, Mukherjee, Mitra and Chatterjee, the officials said. Dhankar had granted sanction to prosecute all the four leaders May 7. The CBI then finalised its charge sheet and moved to arrest them, they said.
Hakim, Mukherjee and Mitra were re-elected as MLAs in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls. Chatterjee, who left the TMC to join the BJP, has severed links with both parties.
The sting operation was purportedly conducted by Mathew Samuel of Narada TV news channel in 2014. In it people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving ‘illegal gratification’ from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of favours, the CBI has alleged.
The agency alleged that Hakim was seen to have agreed to accept a bribe of Rs 5,00,000 from the sting operator. Mitra and Mukherjee were caught on camera receiving Rs 5,00,000 each. Chatterjee was seen receiving Rs 4 lakh from the sting operator, it added. According to the CBI, Meerza was also caught on camera receiving Rs 5,00,000 from the operator.
The tapes were made public just before the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal. However, that did not bother TMC much as they swept to power.
Meanwhile in a separate development West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee dubbed the arrests ‘illegal’. He contended that the CBI action on the basis of the governor’s sanction was unlawful.
“I have not received any letter from the CBI nor has anybody sought permission from me as per the protocol,” Banerjee said.
“I do not know for what unknown reason they (CBI) went to the governor and sought his sanction. The chair of the speaker was not vacant at that time and I was very much in office. This sanction is absolutely illegal and arresting anyone on the basis of this sanction is also illegal,” Banerjee added.
