Narada chief Mathew Samuel had claimed that the sting operation against TMC leaders was funded by KD Singh, even though the latter was a party MP then.
KD Singh.
The ED (Enforcement Directorate) has begun investigating the role of ex-TMC MP KD Singh in the Narada sting operation of 2016 which had exposed a few party leaders taking unwarranted money.
Narada chief Mathew Samuel had claimed that Singh had funded the entire operation against the TMC leaders. According to Samuel, the sting operation was done when he was a part of Singh’s media company Tehelka in 2014.
However, Samuel was not allowed to bring the videos to public. It was after he left Tehelka and floated his own company that the videos were published on a private website.
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BJP leaders had gone overboard to make it an election issue before central agencies CBI and ED took the matters into their hands and began investigation.
Samuel’s statement had given birth to a few questions. The most enticing one being: why did Singh run a sting operation against his own party?
According to a report carried by Bengali daily Sangbad Pratidin, now the ED has now begun to probe his role in the Narada sting operation.
The central agency has reportedly asked its officials in Kolkata to send the statement of Samuel Matthew and all other related information in the form of an extensive report.
It remains to be seen if the questions that have haunted the political alleys of West Bengal finally see answers.
Meanwhile, Singh had enquired about BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya after he was arrested by ED.
During his interrogation by the investigative agency, the former Rajya Sabha MP wanted to know if Roy and Vijayvargiya had made any statement about his arrest.
The reason for the former Rajya Sabha MP’s enquiry about the BJP leaders, though, remained unclear. While he was believed to have a close association with Roy during their time in TMC, his connection with Vijayvargiya is unknown.
He had been summoned several times in connection with the Alchemist chit-fund case before he was finally arrested on Wednesday.
Singh, a former Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, has been accused of money laundering and siphoning off more than Rs 200 crore from thousands of common citizens in the name of chit-fund. He has been arrested under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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