On Monday, ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chattopadhyay were arrested in the Narada bribery case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
They were all picked up from their homes in Kolkata.
The move comes just days after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar granted the CBI permission to file a chargesheet against the four defendants and sanctioned their prosecution.
They were all state ministers who were caught on camera taking money in the alleged Narada sting operation. The tapes were made public in advance of the 2016 state Assembly elections. In March 2017, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI investigation into the sting operation.
According to CBI sources, the four will be charged in the Narada case and will be taken into custody for questioning.
“I have been arrested. We will fight it out in the court,” said Firhad Hakim while being taken away from his residence.
According to TMC sources, the four were forced to sign arrest warrants. They were taken to the CBI office in Kolkata’s Nizam Palace, where they are currently being held.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders rushed to the CBI office after hearing the news, while party workers demonstrated outside.
To disperse the protesters, the central forces guarding the CBI office had to use baton charges.
The Trinamool Congress has expressed its displeasure with the move, calling it “politically motivated.”
“As a lawyer, I can say that this is illegal. One needs to take consent from the Speaker of the state Assembly before arresting an MLA. The CBI only has consent from the Governor,” said Biman Bandopadhyay, lawyer and Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
“This is politically motivated. The party which lost the polls is now using the CBI to arrest MLAs and ministers,” TMC Lok Sabha MP Sougata Roy said.
Hitting out at the saffron party over the arrests, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asked, “Why was an FIR not lodged against Mukul Roy who is now the national vice-president of the BJP? Roy had taken money from former IPS officer Mirza. Also, why has Suvendu Adhikari, who is now the leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, not been arrested? He was also seen taking money in the tapes.”
Ghosh added, “That’s because they have joined the BJP and got protection. This is nothing but a revenge tactic by the BJP as they lost the Assembly polls.”
Mukherjee, Hakim, and Mitra were re-elected as TMC MLAs in the recently concluded state Assembly elections.
Mukherjee and Hakim have also been appointed as state panchayat and transport ministers in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet. Sovan Chatterjee joined the BJP in 2019 but left after being denied a ticket for the Assembly elections this year.
Mathew Samuel of the Narada News portal is said to have carried out the sting operation. Several TMC ministers, MPs, and MLAs were allegedly seen on the tapes receiving money from a fictitious company in exchange for promised favours.
