Continuing its effort to bring the Narada pay-off scam to a logical end and file chargesheets against the accused forthwith, the CBI recorded voice samples of MLA and former deputy mayor Iqbal Ahmed at his residence.

A source close to the agency said, a team of sleuths from the agency along with two witnesses went to the former deputy mayor’s Kolkata residence to record his voice sample. The source attributed the reason behind the visit by a team of sleuths to Ahmed’s residence to record his voice sample to his illness, as the ruling party MLA had written to the CBI a few days ago, expressing his inability to appear before them as he was down with serious illness. Interestingly, it was Ahmed who had introduced the Narada News head Mathew Samuel to a host of the ruling party’s leaders and MPs.

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The former Trinamul Congress-turned BJP leader Mukul Roy, too, during one of his appearances reportedly told the agency that it was Ahmed who had introduced Samuel to him, a source claimed. The source also claimed that it was the former deputy mayor, who had played a pivotal role in establishing the link between party leaders and Samuel, who had conducted the sting masquerading as a business man to promote his business in exchange of offering pecuniary favours to them. The voice sample recorded today in the presence of two witnesses would be matched with the sting video and sent to forensic laboratories for tests. Ahmed is one of the 13 accused named in the FIR by the Central agency. It is alleged that he has taken money from the Narada CEO.

Meanwhile, a source close to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that the agency, to whom the Trinamul Congress MP Shatabdi Roy had yesterday claimed to have sent a demand draft of Rs 30.64 lakh as an act of refund of the money she had allegedly taken from the Saradha group, is yet to decide on the purported claim by the actor-turned MP. “The ED is yet go through the demand draft as claimed by the MP. The agency shall make its stand clear on the purported claim as refund of Saradha money by the MP only after going through the details. If need be, the former actor could be asked to appear before them,” a source in the agency said.

The source, however, claimed that the actor-turned MP’s decision to return the money did not go down well with the agency as her decision to return it could be construed as an “after-thought” following the agency’s alleged threat to freeze her property of the same amount on the day of her interrogation. It probably came as a rude shock to her.

Satabdi Roy’s returning of the money comes after former Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP and co-actor Mithun Chakraborty had returned a whopping Rs 1.20 crore, the money he had allegedly taken for a reality show for which a deal had been struck between the Saradha chief Sudipto Sen and Chakraborty