Narada Sting operation: CBI photographs Kolkata Mayor's office

The Central Bureau of Investigation conducted a search operation inside the official chamber of Kolkata Mayor and Trinamool Congress MLA Sovan Chatterjee on Friday in connection with the ongoing Narada sting operation tapes investigations.

A group of five CBI officers led by DSP Ranjit Kumar reached the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters and went straight to the Mayor's office. Chatterjee was not present at that time, but his officer of special duty Amlan Lahiri was present.

CBI officers took several photographs of the Mayor's chamber, the grand staircase leading to the first-floor office and the Mayor's ante-chamber.

While the sleuths were conducting their operation, Chatterjee reached his office. The officers then took a separate set of photographs with the Mayor seated in his chair, sources said, adding detailed video recording of the entire operation was also made.

Later on, DSP Kumar said, "We had gone to the Kolkata Mayor's office as he is one of the persons named in the Narada tapes FIR. We took photographs and video recorded the events to co-relate with the footage we received from the original tapes. It is an intricate part of the investigation."

Chatterjee, when contacted, said the CBI sleuths did not ask any questions from him. "They only took photographs of my office," he said.

The CBI has lodged a FIR in connection with the Narada sting operation tapes case, while the ED has filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The sting operation pertains to the secret filming of TMC leaders and an IPS officer while they were allegedly accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

Several TMC leaders, including Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and state ministers, have been named in the FIR, while former minister Madan Mitra and IPS officer SMH Mirza have been made accused in the case.