Deputy mayor Iqbal Ahmed questioned on Narada sting probe

KOLKATA: Deputy mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Iqbal Ahmed recorded his statement before the special investigation team on Tuesday in relation to the Narada sting investigations after being summoned to Lalbazar. Unlike IPS officer SHM Meerza who was questioned earlier, it is learned that Ahmed remembered certain details about their meeting though he denied having being involved in any wrongdoing.
Ahmed did keep anything to himself when asked what he had shared with the investigators.He said he told the sleuths the exact circumstances under which Narada CEO Mathew Samuel met him under a fictitious name, offered a whole lot of corporate support and the people he wanted him to meet.
Police sources said they had the influential central Kolkata Trinamool Congress leader first write down his statement before videographing some of his responses to certain questions put by the cops.
“I have decided to tell everything I know about Samuel. This will include the person who sent him to me, the persons he wanted to meet and the person I asked him to meet. He was a 'cheatingbaaz' (cheat) offering to sponsor several events. I will fully cooperate with the police,” said Ahmed. His statement though raised some curiosity within Trinamool circles given that most top Trinamool leaders had denied having been part of this sting.
Ahmed is purportedly seen in the Narada sting and he is alleged by opposition to have acted as a “middleman”, taking the journalists posing as businessmen interested in corporate ventures in Bengal, to meet different leaders.
Ahmed has time and again denied such allegations. He is also a close relative of Sultan Ahmed, the TMC MP who was purportedly seen accepting bribe in the tapes.
Police sources said they will be noting down the statement of the leader in this respect. “This is in line with our earlier statement that all links that come up during the probe will be investigated. It is too early to say what leads we have got from him,” said a source. Top Lalbazar officers too did not say much. “We have asked him to come to Lalbazar on Tuesday and he turned up. His statement was recorded,” said joint CP (crime and STF) Vishal Garg.