The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 17, 2021 arrested four TMC leaders in the Narada cash scam case.
- Of those arrested, two are Ministers in the newly formed Mamata Banerjee Cabinet — Firhad Hakim, Transport Minister and Chairman, Board of Administrators, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), and former Mayor, and Subrata Mukherjee, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister.
About Narada case scam
- The Narada sting operation was conducted by Narada news founder Mathew Samuel for over two years in West Bengal.
- Conducted in 2014 for the news magazine Tehelka, it was published on a private news website Narada News months before the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. Samuel is the former managing editor of Tehelka.
- Under this sting operation, Mathew Samuel formed a fictitious company named Impex Consultancy Solutions and approached several TMC ministers, MPs and leaders, asking them for favours in return for money.
- In this operation, some leaders were seen accepting alleged bribes in the form of wads of cash in exchange for extending unofficial favours for Impex Consultancy Solutions.
- On March 17, 2017, the Calcutta high court ordered a preliminary probe by the CBI. The High Court also directed the CBI to register an FIR against those who were involved in the case, if required.
(Source: Indian Express and The Hindu)
