Now a 'free man', Narada boss ready to face world

KOLKATA: Narada frontman Mathew Samuel, who created a tremor on the political landscape of Bengal just ahead of the assembly polls, will be in the city on Friday to attend a felicitation ceremony. But more than that, he is more eager to counter all the allegations made by Trinamool Congress, point by point.

"Now that I have handed over the tapes and the mobile phones used to videograph the sting, I am a free man. I can visit Kolkata and answer any question anybody wants to ask regarding the sting," Samuel told TOI.

On April 6, the Narada news chief editor sought high court's permission to submit the unedited footage and the devices to any agency in Delhi. "There is threat to the security of tapes," he had said in a five-page affidavit. Thereafter, he submitted everything to a three-member team at Banga Bhavan in Delhi. The devices are now safe in a bank locker.

Though threats came thick and fast, Samuel's not the one to budge. "I wasn't scared of any physical attack. I was only scared of losing the tapes and the iPhones. I feel much better after this sting, unlike Tehelka where I faced harassment from all quarters ­ the BJP , the Congress and everyone else."

On Friday, Samuel will be felicita ted by Amanatkari Agent Surakkha Mancha, a forum of chit-fund depositors who lost their savings. At the programme, he said, he would deliver a talk on "From Sarada to Narada", to "highlight how investigating agencies and political parties shrug off responsibilities when it comes to putting those accused of corruption to task."

Samuel said he loved the way Trinamool, which dubbed the Narada sting as "a political conspiracy", kept changing its statements (see box). Vouching for the video footage, Samuel reiterated, "I shot everything myself on an iPhone 4S and the shoot started two months before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections."

The ace journalist zeroed in on Bengal out of sheer journalistic curiosity. "Mamata Banerjee rode to power after 34 years of Left rule, but her government was already facing corruption charges in the Saradha scam. I stayed here for months, trying to gauge their mood. I soon realized that the Sarada chit-fund scam was just a tip of the iceberg," he said.

Asked if he was up to more revelations for Bengal, Samuel said: "No, I have told all. For now. "