The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three legislators of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday in connection with the Narada scam that made headlines back in 2014.
The legislators in question are ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee and MLA Madan Mitra. They were brought the CBI office in Kolkata today morning.
Additionally, former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee was also brought to the CBI office.
Soon after the arrests, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee rushed to the CBI office to take note of the situation. She termed the arrests as illegal.
On May 9, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar gave the nod to prosecute the four TMC legislators in the Narada being investigated by the CBI.
"After taking note of media reports that Governor of the State of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar has accorded sanction for prosecution in respect of persons who happened to be members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, it is made categorically apparent that Governor of the State of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar accorded sanction for prosecution in respect of Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee, for the reason that all of them at the relevant time of commission of crime were holding the position of Ministers in the Government of West Bengal," the Raj Bhavan said in a release.
According to Raj Bhavan, the CBI had made a request to the West Bengal Governor and provided all the documentation pertinent to the case.
The Narada scam made national headlines in 2014 when journalist Matthew Samuel, founder of Narada news, conducted a sting operation in Kolkata. In the purported sting operation video, 13 TMC leaders were seen taking bribes in return of favors. A police officer was also seen in the video.
