BJP leader Mukul Roy denied claims by IPS officer S.M.H. Meerza when they were questioned face to face by the CBI on Saturday in connection with the Narada sting operation, sources in the central agency said.

Sources said Roy and Meerza, currently in CBI custody, were shown footage of the sting together and asked to explain why the alleged bribe was taken from Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel, who had approached the duo in the guise of a businessman.

An officer in the agency said although Meerza claimed he had accepted the money on Roy’s instructions, the BJP leader — who was then in Trinamul — vehemently denied the officer’s claims.

“Meerza said that everything he did was on the instructions of Mukul Roy, who was then Number Two in Trinamul. Roy, however, rejected the claims,” said an officer in the agency.

Kakoli statement

Trinamul MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Saturday admitted she took money from Samuel for “election purposes”. “I took the money… I took the donation for election purposes,” the MP said. She claimed she had submitted a declaration to the Election Commission about Samuel’s donation.