CBI to cross-examine TMC MP KD Singh in Narada case

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation will cross-examine Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh on Wednesday in connection with the Narada sting operation case, which it is probing, sources in the know here said.

They added that Matthew Samuel, the chief of Narada News and the sting operator who had gathered the controversial footage, will also be examined in the case by CBI officials in addition to one other private person.

The case came to light when Samuel had released footage gathered over several weeks of influential TMC politicians openly demanding and accepting bribes in exchange for favours. According to the CBI's preliminary enquiry in the case, then TMC member Mukul Roy was among the high profile politicians identified as demanding bribes. Roy later switched to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Other than Roy, several other TMC MPs, MLAs and even an IPS officer were shown to have demanded or accepted bribes from Samuel, who had created a fictitious company called Impex Consultancy and had pretended to ask these influential persons for favours so he could covertly record them.

The case was transferred to the central probe agency by the Calcutta High Court in March 2017.

However, this is not the first time Singh has come under the scanner of investigative agencies. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier this year attached his properties worth over Rs 200 crore in connection with a Ponzi scheme

his company, Alchemist Infra Realty Limited was accused of running.