DNA Explainer: What is Narada Sting Operation and why ministers from Mamata Government were arrested?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday (May 17) arrested West Bengal cabinet ministers Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and former minister Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada case. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar had recently given permission to the CBI for the prosecution of these TMC leaders.

What is the Narada Sting operation?

Narada sting tape surfaced in 2016 before the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections. The videos were carried out by the CEO of Narada News Portal, Matthew Samuel, which created a stir in Bengal politics by releasing a sting video. However, the TMC won the election with a two-thirds majority. In the video, the ministers were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favors.

The matter reached the Calcutta High Court. In March 2017, the court ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation. The CBI and ED had initiated an investigation into the matter.

Among the leaders seen in the Narada TV sting were former TMC leader Mukul Roy (now in BJP), Suvendu Adhikari (now in BJP), Subrata Mukherjee, Sultan Ahmed (died in 2017), Prasun Bannerjee, Sovan Chatterjee, Madan Mitra, Kakoli Ghosh Dastikar, Iqbal Ahmed and Firhad Hakim was involved. Apart from these, IPS HMS Mirza was also seen taking bribes from Samuel.

In the forensic investigation, Sting's video was found to be correct. This gave relief to Narada TV CEO Mathew from the High Court. It was then reported that the tape was recorded in 2014.