Narada tapes: Suspended IPS officer SMH Mirza first person to be arrested by CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested suspended IPS officer SMH Mirza in connection with the 2016 Narada sting operation case which allegedly showed several Trinamool Congress leaders accepting money in exchange for favours.

He was sent to five days of CBI custody till Monday by CBI special court in Bankshall.

Mirza is the first person to be arrested in connection with the sting operation case conducted by Narada news portal. The tapes, released just before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal, allegedly showed several Trinamool Congress MLAs and MPs accepting money in exchange for favours from a reporter who was posing as a businessman.

#Breaking: CBI arrests suspended Bengal cadre IPS officer SMH Mirza in connection with Narada sting tapes. This is the first such arrest by the agency which is probing the Narada tapes @dna @ZeeNews @ZeeNewsCrime @capt_ivane #Naradatapes pic.twitter.com/63lD9sAom2

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) September 26, 2019

Several TMC leaders, including Mukul Roy who is now in the BJP, were allegedly seen accepting cash on camera. 

Mirza, who was allegedly seen in one of the tapes, questioned by the agency for several hours before being arrested. 

Agency sources said Mirza failed to give satisfactory answers during his interrogation. The agency, after investigation and questioning of other suspects in the case, found Mirza's involvement in the case, 

Narada News CEO Mathew Samuels, who was posing as a businessman interested in investing in West Bengal, was also questioned by the CBI and his statement also helped the agency nail Mirza. 

The CBI was directed to register a preliminary enquiry in Narada sting case by Calcutta High Court in March, 2017. The state government was also directed to initiate disciplinary action against the IPS officer.

The sting was reportedly conducted in 2014 but was released in 2016 before the assembly elections. Mirza was serving as superintendent of police of Burdwan district at the time of the sting.

(With inputs from Pooja Mehta)