Some days, Lady Luck plays a winning hand for a media organisation. For us today was that day.

Shortly before noon, at a packed Milan bistro, the Times Now Political Editor Ms Navika Kumar, relentless and breathless in her quest to discover the shady men and women behind the Chopper Scam, dropped a lead. Literally. And our reporter, who at Newslaundry expense was enjoying a panini and cappuccino at that very eatery, picked it up. It all happened in a flash.

Our man in Milan explains: “I had decided that the best option for me to get some leads on the story was to follow Navika closely – this way Newslaundry would save some effort as well as TA/DA expenses. Unknown to her, I was sitting right behind where she was shuffling all her recently procured incriminating documents and email printouts, keeping a watchful eye. Suddenly Ms Kumar got a call on her Blackberry – even though her mobile wasn’t on speakerphone the voice was loud enough for me to understand that it was Arnab on the line. Navika sprang from her chair, evidently in a hurry to rush to the nearest studio, and in that considerable movement of hers she dropped some papers. Before Bhupendra and Sunetra and even some CBI sleuths – who, like me, were snooping on her to get to a lead – could react, I pounced on the documents and ran out from the bistro”.

Well done, son!

We can now reveal to the world an exclusive that Ms Kumar would’ve been proud to reveal herself – but sadly can’t. It is a shocking piece of evidence in the form of an e-mail exchange that proves conclusively what we’ve suspected all along: that a man sitting deep inside Tihar is the kingpin behind the Chopper Scam. He has been afforded every comfort and convenience that other prisoners are deprived of. As his email exchange with an Italian middleman shows, this includes a Samsung Galaxy 3 and even regular presents of exotic fruits. There he sits and from there he operates with impunity, even sending high-resolution maps over cyberspace that can compromise national security.

See and judge for yourself. We are calling it Mapgate®, the final nail in the Chopper scam coffin.

This article first appeared in Anand Ranganathan Posted in Newslaundry Leave a comment