Introduction
Mathew Samuel is a former managing editor of the Indian news magazine Tehelka. He is one of the founding members of the magazine, and as a special correspondent there, he instigated Tehelka's large corruption investigation, Operation West End. This sting operation led to the resignation of four senior ministers of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and nearly brought down the BJP-led national government in 2001.
Career
Mathew Samuel was born in a Christian family in Pathanapuram, Kerala. He attended St. Stephens College Pathanapuram, was active in politics, and was the college union secretary.
He worked in Delhi for Mangalam newspaper and Midday for a short period. He later joined Tehelka as a staff reporter, and became managing editor in 2014. He has also worked in Delhi for the publication India Today, and for television channels NewsX, Live India and India TV. He is based in New Delhi. He resigned from Tehelka in February 2016 to start his own news venture, Narada News.
Operation West End
The sting was the brainchild of Mathew Samuel. He got the beginning of the story on a train journey in which one of his co-passengers turned out to be a supplier for Defence Canteens. The sting operation lasted for about eight months and revealed involvement of public figures in corruption. Samuel met with approximately 60 people, including arms dealers, and exposed corruption at high levels of power. The public figures involved were George Fernandes (Defence Minister), Bangaru Laxman (BJP president), Jaya Jaitley (president of the Samatha Party), R. K. Jain (treasurer of Samatha Party), R K Sharma (treasurer of RSS), General Manjith Singh Aluvalia, Major General P. S. K. Chowdhary, General R. K. Murge, General Satnam Singh, Brigadier Iqbal Singh, Colonel Anil Saigal, H. C. Panth, P. Sasi, and Surender Kumar Surekha.
There were 105 videotapes. Samuel alone shot 99 tapes; the rest were shot with his colleague.
Narada sting operations
Mathew Samuel is also credited for conducting the Narada sting operation and publishing it in the new website naradanews.com.