ED raids I-PAC over coal smuggling, Mamata fumes | High drama sets stage for TMC-BJP showdown ahead of Bengal polls

Kolkata: A raid by the Enforcement Directorate at the office of the political consultancy firm, I-PAC, in Kolkata on Thursday in connection with a money laundering case linked to coal smuggling escalated the political slugfest between the Trinamool Congress and its principal challenger, Bharatiya Janata Party, ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal.

Chief Minister and the Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee, stormed into the residence of Pratik Jain, the head of the I-PAC, and the office of the consultancy firm, and left with files and electronic devices, even while the ED officials were continuing searches in both locations. She took a not-so-veiled dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, calling him a “nasty” and “naughty” home minister, and accusing him of getting the ED to raid the I-PAC, engaged by the TMC to provide political consultancy, to collect information about her party’s strategy for the upcoming elections. The ED moved the Calcutta High Court, alleging that the chief minister, as well as police officers and other bureaucrats of the state government, who accompanied her, took away documents and electronic evidence. The BJP lashed out at the TMC supremo, accusing her of interfering in an ongoing investigation by a central agency.

Samik Bhattacharya, the state BJP president, said that the action of the chief minister and the TMC supremo on Thursday made it clear that her party was steeped in corruption and criminal activities. The TMC would take out a rally in Kolkata on Friday against the blatant misuse of the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the BJP-led government at the Centre against political opponents. Mamata, herself, will lead the rally.

The TMC, however, started protests across the state on Thursday itself.

The ED commenced searches at 10 premises – six in West Bengal and four in Delhi – early on Thursday, in connection with a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against a coal smuggling syndicate, which used to steal and illegally excavate coal from areas leased to Eastern Coalfield Limited of West Bengal.

The raids covered the I-PAC chief Pratik Jain’s residence at U N Brahmachari Street in Kolkata, as well as the office of the firm at Sector V in the Salt Lake area of the city.

The I-PAC has been working for the TMC since 2019 and played a key role in planning the party’s campaign strategy for the 2021 assembly elections as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The company is now preparing the party’s campaign plan for this year’s assembly elections.

The ED, however, alleged that one hawala operator linked to the layering of proceeds of crime of coal smuggling had facilitated transactions of Tens of Crores of Rupees to the I-PAC.

The agency stated that the coal smuggling syndicate used to steal and illegally excavate coal from ECL leasehold areas of West Bengal, and a large part of this coal was sold to Shakambari Group of companies.

Mamata arrived at the residence of Jain around noon, shortly after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached the scene. She came out after about 20 minutes with a file folder, a laptop and a phone. The TMC supremo told the journalists on the scene that the ED raided the residence of the chief of her party’s IT cell and his office to collect all documents and hard disks containing the party’s strategy, as well as the list of candidates.

“Is it the duty of the ED? They are taking all our party documents,” she said and went on to hit out at Shah, who had recently visited Kolkata to review the BJP’s preparations for the elections in West Bengal. “Naughty and nasty Home Minister. The home minister, who cannot protect the country, is attempting to take away our party documents. If I raid the BJP party office, what will happen then?”

“They (ED officials) are attempting to take away all the documents containing my party’s information. I rang up Pratik, came here, and am taking them (documents) away now,” added Mamata.

She then drove to the I-PAC office, where the Director General of Police, Rajeev Kumar, and other top cops, as well as some TMC leaders, had already reached. Though the central paramilitary force personnel had blocked the entries and exits of the building, she went to the basement and took the elevator to the 11th floor, where the I-PAC office is located.

“The TMC is a registered political party, and we pay income tax. The BJP-led government at the Centre cannot bulldoze us using money and muscle power,” she said, adding: “I dare the BJP to fight us politically if they want to win (West) Bengal.”

The ED alleged that the chief minister, her aides, and the state police personnel forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence from the I-PAC office, too.

This is not the first time Mamata has taken to the streets to protest against the actions of the central agency against her party and the government. In 2019, when the CBI raided the residence of Rajeev Kumar, who was then the Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Mamata reached the scene and later staged a sit-in demonstration in front of the central agency at Nizam Palace in the city.

“A chief minister who had taken oath by the Constitution of India before assuming office, directly interfered in the investigation process of a government agency. This is not only illegal, but an attempt to shield criminals and an act of tampering with evidence,” said the state BJP chief Bhattacharya. “The way she took away files and hard disks has established in the minds of people the complicity of the Trinamool Congress with such criminal activities”.

The ED clarified that the search was conducted based on evidence and was not targeted at any political establishment. “No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any election and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering. The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards,” added the agency. “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 from two of the premises.”