Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested three TMC MLAs, including two ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee in connection with Narada scam case. Another leader is Madan Mitra. The agency also arrested former TMC leader Sovhan Chatterjee.
Shortly after the developments, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders went to the CBI’s office, reports suggested.
Meanwhile, CBI officials said they will file the chargesheet on Monday against five accused, including the three Trinamool Congress leaders arrested earlier in the day.
Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari, who were among the Trinamool leaders allegedly caught taking bribes, have since joined the BJP. Both were Trinamool parliamentarians when the crime was committed but their prosecution was never sanctioned. They are now BJP MLAs after contesting the state election.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had earlier this month sanctioned action against the four arrested today, though a state assembly Speaker has to clear the prosecution of MLAs. The CBI, skipping the Speaker, approached the Governor instead, in January.
The Governor said he had the authority to grant sanction because they were ministers sworn in by him in 2011.
All four were ministers in the previous Mamata Banerjee government when the Narada bribery tapes were shot in 2014. Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were sworn in by the Governor as members of the new Mamata Banerjee cabinet after she won a third straight term.
The so-called “Narada tapes” were released just before the 2016 assembly elections in the state.
