Narada News CEO alleges threat to his life, claims he and his family are being stalked
Mathew Samuel voiced his fears as the Supreme Court refused to stop the CBI inquiry into the sting operation involving TMC members.
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The chief executive officer of Narada News, the man behind the sting operation on several Trinamool Congress leaders, has said that he fears for his safety and that of his family. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mathew Samuel alleged that a car had followed his “suspiciously” for 13 km when he went to a hospital in Kerala.
Samuel also claimed that his children spoke to him about being followed in Delhi for the past couple of days, as did a member of his staff at Narada News. “Now, when I read all of this together, I seriously believe some people are planning to eliminate the prime witness in the Narada sting operation,” he wrote on Facebook.
Both Samuel and his family, who are in Delhi, have filed separate police complaints, reported IANS. “Ever since the Calcutta High Court order was pronounced, my family and I, and even my staff, have been stalked by unknown men,” he told the news agency.
Samuel’s made the allegations the same day the Supreme Court quashed a petition by the West Bengal government, which had challenged a Calcutta High Court order calling for the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the Narada sting operation case. Calling the plea “unfortunate”, the top court had asked the government’s advocate to apologise and said the CBI will continue with the investigation.
In March last year, not long before the West Bengal Assembly elections, Narada News had released videos that purportedly showed several Trinamool leaders accept cash in return for favours. The Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee had sought an explanation from the five TMC legislators seen in the clips. In April 2016, the high court had set up a three-member committee to keep evidence from the Narada News investigation “in safe custody”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that the sting operation was a conspiracy against her government and party members. She had claimed that it was meant to hurt her party’s image before the polls. In June, she had ordered a Kolkata Police inquiry into the case.