Narada case: CBI interrogates Mathew Samuel in Cochin

Officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday interrogated Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel in connection with the sting operation in his residence in Cochin.

On the same day, officers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) interrogated the owner of the hotel in central Kolkata where Samuel had stayed while conducting the sting operation.

A team comprising officers from the Kolkata office of the CBI went to Cochin to interrogate Samuel. They questioned him on Monday for around seven hours. Sources said that as per the direction of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI officers questioned him to find out whether Samuel had offered money to the leaders on his own or whether they had asked for money from him. He will be questioned again on Tuesday.

The CBI officers have prepared a set of questions related to his stay in Kolkata and how he had managed to reach to the political leaders who were featured in the video footages of the sting operation.

It may be mentioned that Samuel was also interrogated by the ED officers on May 23-24. They also had to go to Cochin to interrogate him. The ED officers also questioned him for these two consecutive days when he had narrated the entire incident. After the Court had directed the CBI to find out whether Samuel had offered money to the leaders on his own or whether they had

asked for money from him, the ED are also trying to assess the same.

On Monday, ED interrogated Balaram Goswami, the owner of the hotel in central Kolkata, where Samuel had stayed when he had conducted the sting operation.

In a bid to ascertain the money trail, the ED officers questioned the owner of the hotel about the mode of payment, sources said. Goswami was interrogated for around three-and-a-half hours.