Friday, Apr 19, 2024 | Last Update : 08:09 PM IST
CBI sends 2nd summon to Trinamul MP
HC asks MLA Iqbal Ahmed to cooperate in CBI probe.
Kolkata: Trinamul Congress MP from Uluberia, Howrah, Sultan Ahmed has been summoned again by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after he skipped his appearance before the anti-corruption branch (ACB) on Wednesday morning to face questioning in the Narada sting operation case. This is the second time that he was served the summons by the CBI.
Mr Ahmed was sent the first summons on Tuesday. He however did not appear at the ACB office in Nizam Palace in south Kolkata. Mr Ahmed sent his lawyer, Danish Haque, who submitted a letter to the ACB office seeking more time. But Mr Ahmed was sent the second summons on Wednesday evening. He has been asked appear at the ACB office at around 11 am on July 3.
In the morning, Narada CEO Mathew Samuel, who was also summoned, appeared at the ACB office. He said he had told the investigating officers about his appearance at the Muchipara police station apart from his visit to the Calcutta high court. Mr Samuel also met senior lawyer Arunabha Ghosh, who claimed that the cops were forcing the Narada CEO to state his sting video footage to be “doctored” after summoning him in an extortion case.
Meanwhile, the Calcutta high court directed Mr Ahmed’s brother Iqbal Ahmed, a Trinamul MLA, to cooperate in the investigation in the Narada case. Justice Joymalyo Bagchi passed the direction to Mr Ahmed, who is also the Kolkata deputy mayor, after hearing his petition for quashing of the cases in which he has been booked by the CBI and enforcement directorate. Mr Ahmed has been admitted to a private hospital, complaining of illness after facing the first round of questioning by the CBI.
His lawyer, Amit Desai, argued that the FIR against the Trinamul MLA and the deputy mayor was beyond jurisdiction and it was based on inadmissible evidence.
Justice Bagchi ordered Mr Ahmed to extend his cooperation to the central agencies. He later adjourned the hearing till Friday, when it would come up for hearing along with the plea of another Narada accused: Trinamul MP Aparupa Poddar.
