Tape suggests ‘sting’ targeted Kerala chief secy

AN AUDIO tape has emerged of a purported conversation between a woman and the former managing editor of Tehelka, Mathew Samuel, which suggests that conversations with sexual undertones were part of a “sting operation” being conducted by the news portal in 2015 on the then Kerala Chief Secretary.

Mathew was with Tehelka as managing editor from August 2014 to January 2016 before launching another news portal naradanews.cominmarchwitha “sting” that purportedly showed senior TMC leaders allegedly accepting cash for business favours in West Bengal.

Whencontactedbythe Indian Express, Samuel said that the tape contained the recording of a conversation that took place oneand-a-halfyearsagobetweenhim and a woman he identified as Angelabraham,anassociate,with whom he was discussing a sting operation for Tehelka.

The tape contains references toaconversationthatthewoman hadwith“jiji”,anddiscussespreparations for a meeting between her and “Kunhalikutty”. Samuel claimed that “Jiji” referred to then Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson and “Kunhalikutty” to the then Kerala Industries Minister andiumlleaderpkkunhalikutty.

Askedwhythestingoperation wasneverpublished,samuelsaid, “Thomson tactically avoided it. There is only a video in which Thomson is seen introducing Angel, who represented a fictitious firm, to his wife. The Chief Secretary considered Angel as a daughter.’’

On January 5, Samuel filed a complaint with Kochi Police, stating that tapes related to the sting operation had been stolen and that he was being blackmailed by Baiju John, news editor of dailyindianherald.com, a Malayalam newsportal,whichfirstpublished the audio tape. Police said they wereinvestigatingthecomplaint.

When contacted, Thomson saidthathehad“heard”aboutthe incident.askedwhyhedidnotfile a complaint about the sting operation, he said he would react only after collecting further details. Thomson, a 1980-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, retired from service last February.

Last January, Hindutva outfit Hanumansena’skeralachief,am Bhakthavalsanan, had complained to the then DGP T P Senkumar, alleging that the seniormostiasofficerinkeralahadbeen honey-trapped and had to pay up Rs5croreafterbeingblackmailed.

“I had personally handed over the complaint to Senkumar. But there was no probe into this serious issue,” alleged Bhakthavalsanan.senkumarsaidhecouldnot recollect details of the complaint.

The Malayalam portal editor, Baiju John, claimed that he was being targeted after his website publishedareportinjanuary2016 alleging that Samuel was blackmailing IAS officers in Kerala.

During an earlier stint in Tehelka, Samuel had played a key role in the sting operation titled Operationwestendthatpurportedly showed political leaders and defenceofficialsallegedlyaccepting or agreeing to accept cash and sexual favours to help a fictitious arms company in 2001. The sting led to the resignation of the then BJP president Bangaru Laxman.

Samuel is also facing allegations from a former colleague, Ram Kumar, who posted on Facebook that he was “facing a death threat” since he left naradanews two months ago. Kumar claimed that if he was killed, “Samuel and a few senior IAS officers in Kerala would be responsible”. “I am not afraid of being killed, but I want to reveal certain things,” wrote Kumar in the post on January 11.

Kumarallegedthatthreesting operations, in which he worked with Samuel, were not published by Tehelka on the latter’s instructions.heclaimedthathelatersaw a video in which he saw Samuel withassociatesofthetargetofone of those stings.

Samuel admitted that he had worked with Kumar on the three sting operations. “But these stories could not be completed. If we hadpublishedincompletereports about the sting operations, they would have backfired. It is a baselessallegationthatihavetargeted Kumar,’’ he said.