Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday arrested West Bengal Transport and Housing Minister Firhad Hakim and Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee in connection with the 2016 Narada bribery case, days after the latter took charge.
Former Trinamool ministers Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee were also picked up and brought to Nizam Palace, CBI’s Kolkata headquarters, in the same case. While the party has not issued any statement on this, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is learnt to have reached the Nizam Palace after the arrests.
The CBI, assisted by central forces, reached Hakim’s residence in south Kolkata’s Chetla area Monday morning and took him out.
A top CBI official confirmed to ThePrint that Hakim and the others have been arrested, and that they will be produced in court later in the day. The official also said charge sheet in the matter would be submitted Monday.
Hakim, who has also been the mayor of Kolkata, is considered to be one of the closest cabinet colleagues of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He now holds the position of chairman of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s board of administrators.
While being taken out of his residence, Hakim said: “I have been arrested in connection with Narada. I have not been served any notice. We will see them in court.”
On 7 May, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had sanctioned the CBI’s plea to prosecute four senior politicians who were all ministers in the Bengal government when the scam was unearthed in 2016.
This is the first such action CBI has taken in the Narada case.
Madan Mitra, a former transport minister, was earlier arrested by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam.
Sovan Chatterjee is no longer with the Trinamool. He had joined the BJP in 2019 but quit the party ahead of the 2021 elections.
Agitation by Trinamool after arrests
Immediately after Hakim was taken out of his residence, Trinamool workers tried to block the CBI’s car. However, the minister got down and appealed to the workers to stay calm and clear the road. The workers later came out on the streets in Chetla area to lodge their protest.
The party is yet to issue a statement on the arrests. CM Mamata Banerjee, who lost her younger brother Ashim Banerjee Saturday, had remained at her residence for the past 48 hours. She. however, reached the CBI headquarters Monday morning after the arrests.
Ahead of the 2016 assembly elections, a website called Narada News aired a video purportedly showing Trinamool Congress leaders, MPs and cabinet ministers accepting bribes.
A year later, in March 2017, the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to investigate the case. The CBI then registered an FIR and named 13 accused, including nine top Trinamool leaders and a senior IPS officer.
In April 2019, the CBI had requested the Lok Sabha speaker for approval to prosecute four MPs.
The central agency requested for prosecution approval for the former ministers from Bengal governor in January, and was granted the nod earlier this month.
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