Trinamool Congress legislator Iqbal Ahmed on Tuesday was grilled by police in connection with the sting operation by Narada News, in which several high profile leaders of West Bengal's ruling party were allegedly shown accepting money.
Ahmed, an MLA from Khanakul in Hooghly district was questioned for nearly two hours at the city police headquarters in the presence of Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who is heading the probe into the sting that was released in March prior to the assembly polls.
"Whatever the officers asked I replied, I told them whatever I knew," said Ahmed who in the sting was alleged to have taken Rs. 5 lakh.
Assuring his cooperation if he was summoned by the police again, Ahmed iterated that the entire sting was a "conspiracy" hatched to sabotage Trinamool's image during the assembly polls.
Ahmed is the first politician to be grilled by police in the sting controversy.
Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee had in June ordered a probe headed by the city Police Commissioner to find if there was a "conspiracy" behind the sting.
Police on July 13 questioned and recorded the statement of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer S.M.H. Meerza, who too featured in the sting.
The city police have also twice summoned Narada News editor-in-chief Mathew Samuel, who had conducted the sting.
But the journalist, who has been booked for several offences, including defamation and forgery, is yet to appear for questioning and has twice written to police to seek withdrawal of the summons, as he contended the matter was pending before the Calcutta High Court.
Multiple litigations seeking an independent probe into the sting are pending before the court which has ordered a forensic test on the video footage and devices used for the sting.
--IANS
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