Narada case: CBI conducts voice sample tests of former Kolkata

The CBI on Wednesday conducted voice sample tests of former Kolkata Municipal Corporation mayor Sovan Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar in connection with Narada sting operation, sources in the agency said.

Chatterjee, who recently joined the BJP, and Poddar are among the ten leaders and ministers of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) who have been summoned by the agency for the test.

The TMC MP from Arambag had in 2017 moved the Calcutta High Court seeking to quash a CBI FIR against her in the case, claiming that she was not an elected representative when the alleged video was shot and that the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act were not applicable on her.

The case is still pending before the high court.

According to the sources, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is carrying out the voice sample tests to ascertain the truth of a video, which had surfaced in 2016 ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls.

Samuel Mathew, the editor of Narada News, had provided recordings, which showed persons resembling senior TMC leaders were accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

Over the past two weeks, several TMC ministers and leaders, including Subrata Mukherjee, Sougata Roy and Madan Mitra, have been subjected to voice sample tests.