ED questions Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee in Narada sting case

After being summoned, the senior TMC lawmaker reached ED office at CGO Complex in Kolkata's Salt Lake area at around 11:15 am.

West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Bobby Hakim and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee were interrogated for hours by the ED in connection with the same case on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Central economic probe agency has also sent a notice to state Transport Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, asking him to appear before its investigators on Aug 22 for interrogation in the Narada sting case, sources said.

Since Mar 14 last year, news portal- Narada News- released several sting operation footage, where TMC's leaders, ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen accepting bribes.

From the beginning, TMC leadership had claimed that the sting footage was doctored and a conspiracy of the opposition parties.  

After getting direction from the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court, the CBI has started a probe into the case.

On April 17, the investigation agency registered an FIR in connection with the case under several non-bailable sections against 12 influential leaders, cabinet ministers, MLAs and MPs of TMC and one senior IPS officer, who were seen allegedly taking bribes in the sting footage, reports said.

Besides CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has registered a money laundering case in the Narada sting and currently investigating the case. 

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)