I-PAC raids: Mamata turns up at Pratik Jain’s home, ED moves HC alleging misuse of authority

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday made an unannounced visit to the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was conducting a search there, alleging that the central agency was trying to seize internal Trinamool Congress documents, hard disks and sensitive election-related material.

Calling the searches at Jain’s home and offices politically driven and unconstitutional, Banerjee said Jain was “the in-charge of my IT cell”. She reached his Loudon Street residence around noon, shortly after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma arrived, and remained there for nearly 20 to 25 minutes before stepping out holding a green folder.

“They have raided the residence and offices of our in-charge of IT cell. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which have details about our party candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” Banerjee told reporters.

She alleged that ED officials sought to remove hard disks, mobile phones, laptops, candidate lists and internal strategy papers belonging to the ruling party, and questioned the agency’s role by asking, “Is it the duty of the ED to collect political party data?”

Search operations had begun early in the morning at Jain’s residence and at the Indian Political Action Committee’s (I-PAC) office in Sector V, Salt Lake. Banerjee claimed the raids started around 6 am when the office was unmanned.

“They started the search when there was nobody inside. They transferred our data, poll strategies and information into their system. This is a crime,” she alleged after visiting the Sector V office. “They attempted to take away all the documents from the office. The tables are empty. If the papers need to be recreated, it will take so much time that the elections will be over. Was it fair for them to do this?” she asked.

Escalating her attack on the BJP leadership, Banerjee termed the searches an act of “political vendetta” and accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of misusing central agencies to target opposition parties. “This is not law enforcement. Is this how the nastiest and naughty home minister functions, who cannot protect the country and is sending agencies to harass before elections?” she said, later adding, “After this, you will be reduced to zero. I am sorry Mr Amit Shah, the Prime Minister must control his home minister.” She urged TMC workers to stage protests across the state and announced a protest march in Kolkata on Friday against the ED action.

ED moves Calcutta HC

Hours later, the ED approached the Calcutta High Court, accusing Banerjee of misusing her constitutional authority by obstructing the agency’s official work during the searches. The agency moved a single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh, alleging that when ED teams were conducting searches at the I-PAC office and Jain’s residence, the Chief Minister arrived at both sites with senior officers of the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police and removed files and electronic evidence. The court admitted the ED’s petition, with the matter listed for hearing on Friday, sources said.

In an official statement, the ED denied Banerjee’s claim that it had seized Trinamool Congress documents under the pretext of searches. It said raids were being conducted at 10 locations—six in West Bengal and four in Delhi—under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an alleged coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee.

“The search action was undertaken in a peaceful manner till the arrival of the Chief Minister of West Bengal along with police personnel and officers of the West Bengal administration, who forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence at two of the premises. The above actions have resulted in obstruction in an ongoing investigation and proceedings under the PMLA,” the ED said.

The agency also rejected allegations that the searches were linked to elections, stating: “It is clarified that the search is evidence-based and is not targeted at any political establishment. No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering. The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards.”

Meanwhile, the West Bengal BJP voiced support for the ED, asserting that investigative agencies must be allowed to operate independently and without political interference.