I-PAC chief Pratik Jain’s family files police complaint alleging theft during ED raids at home

Kolkata: The family of Pratik Jain, chief of political consultancy firm I-PAC, on Thursday filed a police complaint against the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging theft of important documents during a raid at home, an officer said.

The search operation, which began at 6 am, continued for over nine hours, an official of the probe agency said, adding that ED officials left Jain's residence on Loudon Street in the southern part of the city around 3 pm.

"Shortly after that, Pratik Jain's wife filed a complaint at Shakespeare Sarani police station alleging theft by the ED. It is alleged in the complaint that essential documents were stolen from their home during the raid," the police officer told PTI.

"We have received a formal allegation of theft against the ED and are investigating the matter. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings," he added.

The ED on Thursday conducted searches at the office of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and the home of its director Pratik Jain, in Kolkata as part of a money laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam, official sources said.

Apart from providing political consultancy to the TMC, the I-PAC also manages the party’s IT and media operations.

The firm's office in Salt Lake and Jain's residence on Loudon Street are among about 10 premises, including four in Delhi, being raided by the federal probe agency in the presence of central paramilitary teams.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dramatically turned up at Jain's residence first and then his office in Salt Lake amid an ongoing ED raid and alleged that the central agency was attempting to seize the TMC's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.

Assembly elections in West Bengal are due in the first half of this year.