Kolkata: CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the slow and unsatisfactory results in the Narada scam probe and reprimanded Investigating Officer Ranjit Kumar, who is probing Narada case, for not sending regular updates to the agency's headquarters in New Delhi.
Asthana is in Kolkata since Tuesday to examine all files and progress made related to Narada, Saradha and other ponzi scams. The probe also includes Rose Valley’s fraudulent business module.
CBI sources said, Saradha chit fund scam probe is almost over but the chargesheet is pending in court. However, probe on the Narada and Rose Valley scams hit a roadblock following the arrest of Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Investigating Officer Manoj Kumar. Several others are yet to be examined in connection to Narada case.
In all the cases, Asthana asked its officers to speed up the process and instructed to finish the job at the earliest. They were also asked to update him about all the cases on a daily basis.
The Narada sting operation case was conducted by Narada news under supervision of its founder Mathew Samuel over a period of two years in West Bengal, to expose the alleged corrupt practices of ministers in the Mamata Banerjee government.
Ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Narada news released several sting videos, sending ripples across the political fraternity in the country.
The videos showed 13 Trinamool Congress (TMC) ministers and leaders accepting bribes in return of favours and misusing official positions.
Narada sting operation caused a major embarrassment for Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as it came at a time when TMC was already reeling under criticism from opposition parties after the Saradha chit-fund scam.
Mathew Samuel of Narada news, formed a fictitious company and approached several TMC ministers, asking them for favours in return of money.
Those who were seen in the Narada sting tapes included several ministers and top Trinamool leaders like Firhad Hakim, Mukul Rai, Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sultan Ahmed, Subrata Mukherjee, Subhendu Adhikari, Sovan Chatterjee, Aparupa Poddar, Madan Mitra, Iqbal Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and H.M.S. Mirza.
On March 17, 2017, Calcutta High Court ordered a preliminary CBI probe in the sting operation case. The court also directed the CBI to register an FIR against those who were involved in the case, if required.
On April 17, CBI has filed charge sheets against 13 Trinamool 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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