TMC MP Prasun Banerjee appears before CBI in Narada case

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Prasun Banerjee on Saturday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here in connection with the Narada sting operation probe even as he accused the probe agency of harassing him and his fellow party leaders in the investigation.

The CBI on August 29, issued summons to several Trinamool Congress ministers and leaders in the Narada sting footage case, in which the politicians were purportedly seen taking hoards of cash from representatives of a fictitious company for extending favours.

The agency will conduct a voice sample test of the persons purportedly seen in the sting footage, which had surfaced in 2016 ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls.

"I responded to the CBI summons and submitted my voice sample. I had already submitted all details regarding the incident to them when I was interrogated two years back. There was nothing new for me to tell them," Banerjee said after coming out of the CBI office here.

"It seems they are trying to harass us. I told them that as I am an MP, my voice samples are easily available in the public domain. There was no requirement to summon me for the voice sample. It seems they want to tarnish our image in public by repeatedly summoning us," Banerjee said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who was also asked by the CBI to appear before it on Saturday, skipped the summons saying he was in Delhi.

Sending a letter to the CBI officials through a representative, Chatterjee said he was in Delhi in connection with the ongoing divorce case with his wife.