CBI quizzes Narada sting accused officer, middleman together

Kolkata, June 23 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday interrogated Narada sting case accused Indian Police Service officer S.M.H. Mirza and alleged middleman Syed Tazdar Ali Mirza together at the agency's city office CGO complex, an official said.

While Mirza, a former Superintendent of Police of West Bengal's Burdwan district, was purportedly seen receiving cash in the Narada sting operation footage, Ali Mirza alias Tiger allegedly worked as a middleman and had taken Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel to meet Trinamool Congress leaders.

"S.M.H. Mirza and Tiger Mirza both appeared at our Kolkata office today (Friday). They are being quizzed together," a senior CBI official told IANS.

Mirza, whom the CBI named in the FIR with a dozen senior leaders of Trinamool Congress in the Narada sting footage case, was earlier interrogated for more than seven hours on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate, that is parallelly investigating the case, on Thursday quizzed Ali Mirza at its city office. He appeared before the CBI for the first time on Friday.

The investigation agency lodged an FIR on April 17 against 13 persons, including several state ministers, members of Parliament from the ruling Trinamool Congress, a month after the Calcutta High Court ordered a preliminary inquiry into the Narada sting footage case.

The CBI sleuths have already questioned Trinamool Congress legislator Iqbal Ahmed in connection with the case earlier this month.

The controversy erupted in election-bound West Bengal in March last year when Narada News portal uploaded video footage purportedly showing the Trinamool leaders receiving money for extending favours to a fictitious company.

Three PILs were filed seeking a CBI probe, and the opposition went all guns blazing on the issue. But the Trinamool managed to retain power, and soon after Banerjee ordered a police probe to find out the "conspiracy" behind the sting.

However, the Calcutta High Court ordered an interim suspension of the police probe.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)