Comrade Ritabrata Banerjee on ensuring the safety and Security of the Narada sting whistleblower Mathew Samuel and his family members

Date: 
March 31, 2017

Zero Hour Mention of Ritabrata Banerjee on ensuring the safety and Security of the Narada sting whistleblower Mathew Samuel and his family members in the Rajya Sabha on 31st March 2017

Sir, through you I want to raise the demand of ensuring the safety and security of whistleblowers and their families particularly women and children.

Whistleblowers who expose corruption at different levels are subjected to risks and threats of various types. Even their family members including women and children are also under life risks and threats.

In his complaint recently to Kerala DGP, Mathew Samuel said while on his way to a doctor's chamber in Cochin on Tuesday, he noticed a white Santro car following him. He tried to ignore it but felt jittery when the same car followed him on his way back.  The Car had a 'K' registration number and so, could be from Kerala or Karnataka.

His employee Angel Abraham also filed the same complaint. "I am the prime witness in the sting operation and there could be people who want to harm me. I ignored it initially, but the episodes pointed towards a planned attempt to intimidate”. Samuel has received similar complaints from his wife and daughters in Delhi.

While the kids went out for an evening walk with their mother they saw two persons following them. The kids saw the same persons in the morning too.

Mathew Samuels had written in his Facebook status: “My kids who are right now in New Delhi rang me up and told that they felt some men following them on their way to morning walk for the previous few days. Same thing was said to me by my staff Angel Abraham. She felt two strangers watching her all the way to office and back in her travel on metro.
As I am in Kerala on a medical treatment background, I asked them to be in ease and not to get panic. Today, in Kerala, while I was on my way to hospital, I observed a Santro car following mine suspiciously. All the 13 kms it was following me, and way back to the same.

Now, all these things when read together I seriously doubt some people planning to eliminate the prime witness of Narada sting operation. For that, I fear the safety of my family there at Delhi and my hometown Kerala.”

Sir, West Bengal has been the hub of chit funds and political corruption in the last five years. Mathew Samuels Sting operation has exposed the ruling party politicians. The match fixing in between the TMC and BJP has sent Sarada and Narada to the doldrums. In this context through you Sir, I am demanding that the centre must ensure the safety and security of Samuels and his family members.