The state government on Friday ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar into the Narada sting operation. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said truth should come out and those involved in the matter would be punished. Also, investigation would be made into those who had tutored the sting operation.
It may be mentioned that the Ethics Committee of Parliament was looking into the matter. Also, the matter is lying before the High Court and the Court had directed Mathew Samuel to deposit the camera used to conduct the sting operation and other documents to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad for analysis.
The sting operation showed several Trinamool Congress leaders including the allegedly taking money from a person. The total amount was Rs 68 lakhs. Samuel claimed to have conducted the sting operation himself but did not disclose from where he had got the money.
The investigation will reveal the source. Samuel had admitted that he did not disclose the sting operation to the owner of Tehelka, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh while getting the job. When the sting operation came to light, the Opposition parties demanded for Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.
In every campaign they had referred to the issue and went ahead and called her “dishonest.” But the issue did not have any impact on the election and TMC made a landslide victory.
After election the Opposition said Banerjee should have dropped those whose name had appeared in the sting operation. However, Banerjee from day one had called it a “conspiracy by a group with vested interest.”
“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.