ED moves Calcutta HC as Mamata arrives at I-PAC official's home during raid

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday moved the Calcutta High Court, alleging “obstruction” by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during searches conducted at the premises of a top official linked to the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in Kolkata.

 

The searches formed part of a money laundering investigation connected to an alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam. The ED carried out searches at two locations associated with I-PAC in the city, including the residence and office of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain.

 

According to a report by PTI, the matter has been mentioned before Justice Suvra Ghosh, who is likely to take up the petitions for hearing on Friday.

 

I-PAC has also moved the Calcutta High Court, challenging the legality of the ED’s searches.

Chief minister’s intervention during raids

During the ongoing searches, Banerjee arrived at Jain’s residence in south Kolkata and later at I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake.

 

She was seen walking out with a laptop, phone, and multiple documents from Jain’s house. Banerjee alleged that the central agency was attempting to seize the ruling party’s internal documents, hard disks, and sensitive data related to its election strategy.

 

It is to be noted that I-PAC not only provides political consultancy to the Trinamool Congress but also manages the party’s IT and media operations.

ED alleges removal of evidence

In a statement issued later in the day, the ED alleged that its proceedings were disrupted after the chief minister arrived at the residence along with a large number of police officials.

 

“Proceedings were being conducted in a peaceful and professional manner until the arrival of West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee, along with a large number of police officials. Ms Banerjee entered the residential premises of Pratik Jain and took away key evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices,” the agency said.

 

The ED further claimed that Banerjee, her aides, and state police personnel later went to I-PAC’s office, where documents and electronic evidence were forcibly removed. The agency said these actions amounted to obstruction of an ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).  The probing agency further said that the searches were conducted as part of a wider probe into an alleged coal smuggling and money laundering network operating in West Bengal.  

The ED said its investigation revealed that a coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee allegedly stole and illegally excavated coal from Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) leasehold areas. The coal was then sold to factories and plants across districts such as Bankura, Bardhaman and Purulia.

 

The agency claimed that a major portion of the illegally mined coal was sold to companies linked to the Shakambhari Group. The probe further uncovered alleged links with hawala operators involved in laundering the proceeds of crime.

 

“Investigation revealed that one hawala operator linked to the layering of proceeds of crime from coal smuggling had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited,” the ED said.

 

The agency added that multiple pieces of evidence, including statements from various individuals, pointed to a hawala nexus. Based on these findings, the ED said I-PAC was among the entities linked to alleged hawala transactions connected to the coal smuggling case.

Protest march announced

Meanwhile, Banerjee is set to lead a protest march in Kolkata on Friday against the ED raids, PTI reported, citing Trinamool Congress sources. The march is scheduled to begin from Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand and proceed to Hazra More at 2 pm.

 

The TMC has termed the ED’s action “politically motivated” and alleged that it is aimed at intimidating the ruling party ahead of the assembly elections, setting the stage for a fresh political flashpoint in the state.

 

However, the ED, in its statement, said that the search was carried out based on “evidence” and was not targeted at any political establishment.