Narada case: CBI arrests two West Bengal ministers, TMC MLA in Kolkata

The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two Trinamool Congress ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee apart from former Trinamool Minister and present MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Corporation Mayor Sovon Chattopadhyay in the Narada sting tapes cases where several politicians and a highranked police officer were allegedly found accepting cash bribes in exchange for providing unofficial favours to the companyThe premiere agency that has already prepared the chargesheet in the case is likely to produce all four before the court on MondayThey have not given any notice and now they have arrested me They didnt even seek the permission of the Speaker We will fight it in the court State Transport Minister and former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim told the media after he was arrested from his Chetla home in South Kolkata earlier in the dayAlong with Hakim three others were brought to the CBI regional office at Nizam Palace in the morning Sources in CBI said that they were also arrestedThe CBI officers with large central forces went to the houses of the leaders and the ministers in the morning at around 930 am and brought to the regional office without even allowing them to speak to their lawyersSources in the agency said that all of them were made to sit in separate rooms on the 15th floor of the office and they were allowed to consult their lawyersWATCH TMC supporters hold protest outside the CBI office over the arrest of its leaders pictwittercom0lBPK92zfAmdash ANI ANI May 17 2021Though questions have been raised about the arrest of two cabinet ministers without the permission of the Speaker the CBI officials said that they had sought the permission of the Governor and Jagdeep Dhankar had given them the permission to prosecuteWe will appeal for the bail one of the lawyers saidThe arrests obviously attracted controversy because Governor Dhankar has accorded sanction of prosecution to the premiere agency just few hours before the oath taking ceremony of the ministersThe plea for sanction was made a little before MCC came into being I thought it as an act of propriety that at that point of time I should not be giving attention to the matterThe moment the poll process was over the matter engaged my attention because such issues should not be delayed and so I acted and you know the resultsAs coming to issues on people taking oath in respect of whom sanctions for prosecution has been afforded is a matter of propriety to be taken not by those who make a request to the governor to appoint them the governor had saidChief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the CBI regional office to speak to her cabinet ministersThe chief minister appeared angry as she entered the CBI office and met her leadersLawyers present on the floor said that the chief minister questioned the CBI officers about the legality of the arrests of the ministers and even said that she would wait till the end until there is a proper conclusion to the whole incidentThe BJP is taking a vindictive stance Why are Suvendu and Mukul who are also accused in the Narada case not arrested They are trying to take revenge for their defeat We will fight the case in the court senior Trinamool leader Saugata Roy saidThe arrests created huge controversy and protests all over the city as the Trinamool Congress supporters breaking the lockdown norms blocked the road in front of Nizam Palace and several other places in the cityThey demanded immediate release of the leaders Large number of central forces cordoned off Nizam Palace and nobody was allowed to enter the areaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever