Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Sultan Ahmed and party MLA Iqbal Ahmed have reportedly refused to give their voice samples for Voice Spectrographic Test (VST) to the CBI in connection with Narada sting operation.
“Since the charge-sheeted persons are claiming that the video is morphed, we want to ascertain whether the voices are matching with them or not. Nowadays, it is very easy to find out whether the video is fake or not. The forensic laboratory in Hyderabad has already informed us that the video is genuine, and now, we want to be doubly sure if the voices are of Iqbal Ahmed and Sultan Ahmed,” a CBI source said.
He further said, “We have enough evidence to prove that there were some illegal dealings. Since they refused to give their voice samples, we are consulting our lawyers, and soon, we will approach the Calcutta High Court on the matter. We are planning to send their voice samples for forensic test”.
On Monday, the CBI questioned Sultan Ahmed and another party MP Satabdi Roy in connection with Narada and Sarada Group chit fund scam.
Iqbal Ahmed – who is also the Deputy Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) – is an MLA from Khanakul in Hooghly district. He was seen in the sting video allegedly accepting a bribe.
The sting operation was conducted by Narada news in West Bengal to expose the alleged corruption by ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government. The sting was conducted under the supervision of its (Narada news) founder Mathew Samuel over a period of two years.
Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Narada news released videos of sting operations, sending ripples across the political fraternity. Videos showed 13 TMC ministers and leaders accepting bribes in return for favours/misusing official positions.
Narada sting operation caused a major embarrassment to the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee because it came at a time when TMC was already under criticism from the opposition parties in Saradha chit-fund scam.
Mathew Samuel of Narada News formed a fictitious company and he approached several TMC ministers, asking them for favours in return of money. Those who were seen in the Narada sting tapes are Firhad Hakim, Mukul Rai, Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sultan Ahmed, Subrata Mukherjee, Subhendu Adhikari, Sovan Chatterjee, TMC MP Aparupa Poddar, Madan Mitra, Iqbal Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and H.M.S. Mirza.
On March 17, 2017, Calcutta High Court ordered a preliminary probe to be conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the sting operation. The court also directed the CBI to register an FIR against those who were involved in the case, if required.
On April 17, CBI filed charge sheet against 13 TMC leaders in the Narada sting case. All of them were booked under Section 120 B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), Section 13 (2), 13 (1D) and Section of 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act.
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