The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday asked Mathew Samuel, the former head of Naradanews.com, to appear before the agency in Kolkata on Monday, September 18, for questioning in connection with the sting video tapes in which 12 Trinamool leaders, including MPs, MLAs and ministers, were seen accepting money.
Samuel, who was the editor and managing director of Narada news portal, handed the money and conducted the sting operation with secret cameras in 2014. Acting under a Calcutta High Court order, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court, the CBI filed the FIR in the Narada case on March 16, 2016. Mathew in 2016, had recorded a sting video on his news portal just before the commencement of the Assembly elections. The state BJP showed the sting video in a press conference at its party headquarters.
On Tuesday, the anti-corruption branch of the CBI sent a notice under Section 160 Criminal Procedure Code to Samuel asking him to be present at the CBI, ACB office at Nizam Palace, Kolkata, as “he was acquainted with the circumstances of the case.” CBI sources said that the summons was issued to get clarifications from Mathew who was the main protagonist as well as the prime witness in the sting operation. They said Mathew’s earlier testimony and the forensic evidence from the two iPhones that were used in the sting operation did not match and that is why the investigating agency wanted to summon him.
Trinamool leaders against whom the CBI registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. The then West Bengal Ministers, including Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Environment Minister and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee have also been named. Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP later and currently is the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal at present. Former Minister Madan Mitra, MLA Iqbal Ahmed and IPS officer Saiyaad Mustafa Hussain Mirza have also been named as accused under Prevention of Corruption Act. Mirza, who was posted as the Superintendent of Police, Burdwan, was seen accepting money on camera.