The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chattopadhyay in the Narada bribery case on Monday.
The move comes days after Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar gave his consent to the CBI for filing a chargesheet against the four accused individuals and sanctioned prosecution against them.
All of them were state ministers who were seen taking money in the purported Narada sting operation. The tapes were released ahead of the 2016 state Assembly polls. The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March 2017.
“I have been arrested. We will fight it out in the court,” said Firhad Hakim while being taken away from his residence.
Upon hearing the news, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders rushed to the CBI office as party workers were sighted protesting outside.
TMC has voiced its protest against the move and has called it “politically motivated”.
Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata 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.”
In the recently concluded WB Assembly polls, Mukherjee, Hakim and Mitra were re-elected as TMC MLAs. Mukherjee and Hakim have also been included in the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet and made state panchayat and transport ministers respectively.
(Internet input)