ED, CBI to share information on Narada sting case: Official

The Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation, investigating different aspects of the Narada tapes scandal, will share information with each other, a senior official said on Thursday.

The ED has also urged CBI to share detail on whether any chargesheet has been filed in the case or the agency has sought permission for prosecution of any of the accused in the scam, the official said.

"Earlier, the ED shared its investigation evidence with CBI and is now requesting CBI to do the same", a senior ED official told PTI.

The official said it is a "common practice" to share information with each other in the interest of the ongoing investigation being conducted jointly by two central agencies.

"Further investigation into the money laundering aspect is dependent on the probe done by the CBI," he said.

In the sting operation, which was claimed to have been carried out in 2014, some persons resembling senior Trinamool Congress leaders and an IPS officer are seen accepting money from the representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

However, the sting video footages were uploaded in the Narada News portal before the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2016, creating a furore in the state politics.

The only person arrested in the case is IPS officer S M H Mirza who was later released on bail.

Mirza was the superintendent of police of Burdwan district when the sting operation was conducted by Mathew Samuel, CEO of the news portal.

Some of the Trinamool Congress leaders accused in the case are Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra, Suvendu Adhikari, Subrata Mukherjee and Sovan Chatterjee and they were interrogated by both the agencies.

The CBI questioned TMC MP Saugata Roy in connection with the scandal.

The CBI also questioned BJP leader Mukul Roy whose name had also figured in the list of accused in the Narada case when he was with the Trinamool Congress.

Roy joined the saffron party in November, 2017.