Two Trinamul Congress ministers, a legislator and a former first citizen of Calcutta were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday morning, hours after they were brought to the agency’s office at Nizam Palace here in connection with a 2016 television sting featuring a purported video showing several politicians accepting bribes in exchange of promised favours.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a dharna at Nizam Palace for over six hours since morning, daring the CBI to arrest her too, her stand indicating that the current situation was likely to snowball into a major political controversy weeks after results of the Bengal Assembly gave the Trinamul a runaway majority to govern the state for the third consecutive time.

“Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee have been arrested today by CBI anti-corruption bureau and are being produced in the jurisdictional court,” read a statement issued by the CBI. “On completion of investigation, prosecution sanction was sought against the public servants… Further investigation of the case shall continue.”

All four were granted bail late on Monday evening by a CBI court.

But CBI moved the Calcutta high court challenging the bail. Late on Monday night, the high court stayed the bail till the next hearing which is scheduled on Wednesday.

Hakim, Mukherjee, Mitra and Chatterjee will remain behind bars till the high court hearing. CBI has also appealed before the high court to move the case out of Bengal, considering all four arrested are influential people.

Earlier, appearing on behalf of the accused, lawyer and Trinamul MP Kalyan Banerjee argued why Suvendu Adhikary and Mukul Roy (both now in the BJP), who were also caught in the Narada sting, had not been arrested.

The CPI(M) state committee in a statement condemned the arrests as politically motivated. “In the wake of the current pandemic in the country and Bengal we strongly condemn the step taken by the central probe agency… BJP should remember the people of Bengal gave a clear mandate that they don’t want a BJP government. The chief minister should also remember the people’s verdict was not an endorsement of Trinamul’s corrupt practices. A fierce opponent like BJP cannot be fought by compromising on corruption,” the statement read.

The arrests were made five years after the Narada News portal tapes went public in which several Bengal politicians including ministers, MPs and other functionaries and senior police officers, were caught on camera purportedly accepting bribes from a fictitious company.

Hakim, the current mayor and state transport and housing minister, Mukherjee, the panchayat minister, Mitra, the Kamarhati MLA, and Chatterjee, a former mayor, were all brought to Nizam Palace a little after 9am for questioning in connection with the television sting that has come to be known as the Narada bribery scam.

According to the CBI, on May 7, it had received sanction from Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to arrest the four, all of whom were ministers when the case broke. The fifth arrest in the case is police officer S.M.H. Meerza, who was picked up earlier and is currently on bail.

Soon after the four were brought in for questioning, Mamata reached Nizam Palace. She held a dharna there for around six hours while Trinamul supporters were out on the streets, shouting slogans against the Narendra Modi government and the CBI on what was the second day of a two week-long statewide lockdown meant to be enforced strictly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"I came to meet them," Mamata told newspersons upon reaching there.

Later in the day, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar sent out a number of tweets alleging violent protests by Trinamul Congress members outside Nizam Palace.

“On channels and in public domain I notice arson and pelting of stones at CBI office. Pathetic that Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police are just onlookers. Appeal to you to act and restore law and order,” he tweeted.

“Total lawlessness & anarchy. Police and administration in silence mode. Hope you realize repercussions of such lawlessness and failure of constitutional mechanism. Time to reflect and contain this explosive situation that is worsening minute by minute.”

“Concerned at alarming situation. Call upon Mamata to follow constitutional norms & rule of law. Kolkata Police, Bengal Police must take all steps to maintain law & order. Sad- situation is being allowed to drift with no tangible action by authorities.”

Before leaving his Chetla residence, which was surrounded by personnel of the central forces, Hakim said he had been arrested. “CBI arrested me in the Narada sting operation. I have been arrested without any prior notice,” he said before boarding a CBI vehicle. “I will challenge this in court.”

TMC supporters protest outside the CBI office, in Calcutta on Monday. Twitter/@tanvibose

After the Narada tapes were made public during the run up to the 2016 Assembly polls Mamata had said she would not have given tickets to any of the accused if she had known. The accused went on to win the elections in 2016 _ and 2021 _ and are still ministers in her government.

Many of the names that came up in the scam are now prominent faces of the BJP in Bengal and elsewhere.

Chatterjee’s estranged wife Ratna, currently an MLA, is also at Nizam Palace.

Trinamul leaders questioned the procedure followed by the CBI while detaining the four for questioning. Trinamul party men also asked why current BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari, who are also part of the purported tapes, had not been arrested.

"West Bengal arrestees cannot be proceeded against without Speaker's sanction. Hence lack of jurisdiction plus vindictive arrest plus timing of arrests, all smack of, steeped in and clearly proves cheapest and most vile vendetta,” tweeted Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Bengal and senior lawyer.

Arrests not unlawful

But senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde told The Telegraph Online that the arrests were not unlawful.

“The Governor is the sanctioning authority for prosecution. In so far as arrests are concerned, when the legislature is in session, the Speaker’s permission is sought, to avoid a breach of parliamentary privilege. Not seeking permission, or not informing the Speaker will not render the arrests unlawful. But, the arresting officer maybe answerable to the Assembly,” Hegde said.

The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the scam in March 2017. Charge sheets were filed against 13 leaders and other functionaries of the Trinamul Congress.

For these five years, the BJP was accused of using the Narada sting to further its own political interests in the state, where it fought a high-pitched campaign during the recently concluded Assembly polls but fell far short of the majority mark.

Chatterjee, the former mayor of Calcutta, had earlier quit the Trinamul and joined BJP. However, he wasn’t given a ticket in the Assembly elections and is not associated with the party any longer. Mitra, who won from the Kamarhati Assembly seat this time, had been arrested earlier by CBI in connection with the Saradha scam.