Mamata orders probe into Narada sting operation

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ordered a porbe by Kolkata police into the Narada sting operation, in which several Trinamool Congress leaders were purportedly shown accepting money for consideration.

After a meeting with the Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee and Home Secretary Moloy Dey at her office, Banerjee said during the time of the recent Assembly election a conspiracy was hatched by inciting people and creating suspicion among them with the help of a so-called sting operation.

“I still believe that there was a conspiracy. We want the truth to come out. That is why I gave an order today to the chief secretary that the police will conduct an enquiry into the total episode. They will investigate and act according to law,” the chief minister said.

She reiterated that they wanted the truth to come out in the case, in which the names of several Trinamool Congress ministers were purportedly shown as accepting cash from a fictitious company.

“We are transparent. We want the truth. The police will conduct the probe impartially. The guilty should be punished,” Banerjee said adding that the police would find out who was behind the conspiracy.

The government had earlier formed an enquiry committee to probe the sting operation, but the members had left the issue to her, she said.

Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee said after a preliminary enquiry conducted by a team of Kolkata police led by police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, action would be taken according to law and that it is upto the administration now and the police will act impartially.

“We have also informed the speaker of the assembly and obtained his permission,” she said.

Asked if the sting tapes were fake, she said, “Why should I comment on that? It will be decided through enquiry. It needs to be understood what was the context of the conversation in the tapes?”

Meanwhile, the opposition parties termed the order of the inquiry a gimmick to fool the masses and cover up the important evidences in the sting operation.

“This is nothing but a gimmick to fool the people. Everybody knows when SIT (Special Investigation Team) was formed during Sarada scam what was the result. Important documents where siphoned off and no major arrests were made. It was a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe that led to the arrest of several important leaders of TMC,” leader of opposition and senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said.

Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sujon Chakroborty termed Banerjee’s decision as an eye-wash to fool the people and destroy the evidences.

Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Rahul Sinha also echoed the view of the Congress and the CPI-M and said if Banerjee really wanted a proper inquiry into the Narada sting then she should have recommended a CBI probe into the incident.