West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered probe into Narada sting operation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ordered a probe into the Narada sting operation, in which many Trinamool Congress leaders were seen allegedly accepting bribes.
"During the elections the sting was used to malign and defame us. We want the truth to come out as we believe it is a conspiracy. I had committed to a thorough probe and I have kept my word. Police must investigate and take action according to the law," Mamata Banerjee told reporters at Nabanna, the state secretariat.
The probe will be conducted by Police Commissioner of Kolkata, Rajib Kumar.
The Opposition however dismissed Mamata Banerjee's order for a probe as an eyewash and an attempt to give her party leaders a clean chit.
When asked if she believed that her leaders were guilty, Ms Banerjee said, "I cannot comment on who is guilty and who is not before the probe is over."
The Calcutta High Court had directed the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) Hyderabad to see if the tapes were genuine or not. The court had also said that the report of the analysis should be kept confidential, which shall later be collected by the chairman of the court-appointed three-member committee personally.
"An investigating team has been set up whose responsibility is to safeguard the culprits rather than bring them to book. This is a brazen mockery of the justice system," CPIM leader Satarup Ghosh told NDTV.
"We had expected Mamata Banerjee to cleanse her party of corrupt elements after victory in the elections. This is a joke on the people of Bengal. A policeman working under her government is conducting the probe and this is the same policeman who was protecting her party men during the Sarada scam. She is setting the terms of reference for the probe," Bengal Congress chief Adhir Choudhury told NDTV.
During the elections, Ms Banerjee had told NDTV's Prannoy Roy on Battleground West Bengal that the Narada sting is a propaganda by the BJP, the Congress and CPIM. They have nothing against her so they are trying to malign her party. This is political vendetta.