CBI welcomes more probe time

TT, Calcutta, March 21: The Supreme Court's decision to extend the time limit for the preliminary probe into the Narada payoffs from three days to a month was welcomed at the CBI offices in Delhi and Calcutta, sources said.

"More time means we get to dig even deeper and prepare a fool-proof report," an officer said.

Sources said the extended time would allow the investigating agency to take "a 360-degree approach" while scanning the Narada tapes - studying the tapes one by one and examining the situation in which the persons seen in the footage make certain promises against offers.

The Narada tapes show images of persons resembling some Trinamul leaders and an IPS officer accepting cash from a journalist posing as a representative of a fictitious company or directing him to people and places with whom the money should be deposited.

 According to some CBI officers in Calcutta, the expanded probe would include:

♦ The backdrop of the conversations of each of those captured in the tapes

♦ The promises those seen on the tapes are heard making against cash payments

♦ The reason behind the list of politicians who were chosen for the sting

♦ The trigger behind the sting and the timing of the release of the tapes

CBI officers said the agency would set up a separate team that would collect more documents related to the case and work in tandem with the group scanning the tapes.

Late this evening, a team of CBI officers met at Nizam Palace in Calcutta to discuss the subsequent course of action in the wake of the Supreme Court order. Sources said the officers would discuss with their counterparts in Delhi how to go about the probe.

According to the sources, CBI officers in Delhi would prepare a plan over the next two or three days.

The CBI is believed to have already spoken to the three persons who had filed the PIL in Calcutta High Court - Congress leader Amitava Chakraborty, BJP member Brajesh Jha and advocate Akshay Sarengi - seeking a probe into the Narada sting.

Sources said the officers had received an email from Narada chief editor Mathew Samuel, who had conducted the sting, in response to a questionnaire.

"The apex court today acknowledged the 'political' nature of the case. So before drawing up a preliminary report, we would like to cover all aspects in keeping with the CBI's style of functioning," an officer said.

Some CBI sources said they would like to draw up a list of officers who would be involved in the investigation once the agency filed an FIR.

The sources said these officers would be made to work on the preliminary report also so that they know what to do once the case is started.