The ED conducted searches at the residence of I-PAC co-founder and director Pratik Jain on Loudon Street in south Kolkata and at the firm’s office in Sector V, Salt Lake. Soon after learning of the raids, the Chief Minister arrived at both locations, accompanied by a heavy police presence, and disrupted the searches.
Kolkata: The political battle between the BJP and the Trinamul Congress (TMC) in West Bengal escalated sharply on Thursday after the Enforcement Directorate raided two premises linked to the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the political consultancy working with the ruling party, in connection with a coal smuggling-linked money laundering probe. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee responded by personally intervening at the raid sites, leading to a dramatic confrontation with the central agency.
The ED conducted searches at the residence of I-PAC co-founder and director Pratik Jain on Loudon Street in south Kolkata and at the firm’s office in Sector V, Salt Lake. Soon after learning of the raids, the Chief Minister arrived at both locations, accompanied by a heavy police presence, and disrupted the searches. Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma and a large contingent of police personnel were already present at Jain’s residence when Mamata arrived around noon. She later emerged from the building carrying a packet of documents.
Alleging political vendetta, Mamata claimed the ED had raided the office and residence of her party’s IT functionaries to seize sensitive party data, including hard disks, candidate lists and campaign strategies. She accused the agency and Union home minister Amit Shah of misusing central agencies ahead of elections. She later proceeded to the I-PAC office at Godrej Waterside in Salt Lake, accompanied by ministers, MLAs, senior bureaucrats and Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar. She remained there for nearly three hours, during which police personnel were seen removing documents and electronic devices.
Terming the ED action a “crime”, the Chief Minister said the raid amounted to looting a political party office. Describing I-PAC as an authorised arm of the TMC, she announced a statewide agitation against the ED and said she would lead a protest rally on Friday from Jadavpur to Hazra.
Meanwhile, three FIRs were registered against the ED in connection with the raids. One was lodged at the Electronic Complex police station under the Bidhannagar Commissionerate over the search at the I-PAC office. Two others were registered at Shakespeare Sarani police station in connection with the raid at Jain’s residence. In one complaint, a police officer alleged physical misconduct by ED officials and claimed no prior intimation of the raid was given. Jain filed another complaint alleging trespass and physical restraint.
The ED rejected the Chief Minister’s allegations and moved the Calcutta High Court against Mamata and others for obstructing the investigation. In a statement, the agency said its probe revealed that a hawala operator linked to coal smuggling proceeds had facilitated large transactions to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited, making the firm one of the entities under investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED said searches were conducted at six premises in West Bengal and four in Delhi on January 8 as part of the investigation. It claimed the proceedings were carried out peacefully until the arrival of the Chief Minister with a large police contingent, alleging that key documents and electronic evidence were removed from both Jain’s residence and the I-PAC office, resulting in obstruction of the investigation.
Clarifying its position, the ED stated that the searches were evidence-based, not targeted at any political establishment, and were unrelated to elections. It asserted that no political party office had been searched and that the action was part of a routine crackdown on money laundering.
Pratik Jain and the TMC have also approached the High Court challenging the ED action. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP criticised the Chief Minister’s conduct, accusing her of interfering with a lawful investigation.
