BJP slams Mamata Banerjee for obstructing ED search at I-PAC locations

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday criticised West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the alleged obstruction of Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids in Kolkata at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain, questioning the CM’s alleged links with the firm and claiming there was “a lot of suspicion” surrounding the episode.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Banerjee of interfering with a central agency’s investigation. “The entire action of the CM is not only unethical, irresponsible and unconstitutional, but she has put the entire democratic process and governance to shame,” Prasad said. He alleged that there must be “something sensitive implicating her and her party” that she “snatched away” from Jain’s residence, where ED searches were underway.

The ED on Thursday conducted searches at the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, Kolkata, in connection with an alleged coal scam-linked money laundering case. The agency alleged that Banerjee entered Jain’s residence on Loudon Street during the search operation and “took away key evidence”.

Banerjee, however, termed the ED action “politically motivated and unconstitutional”. “They have raided the residence of our IT chief (Jain). They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which had details about our candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” she said.

Following the incident, both the ED and I-PAC approached the Calcutta high court. The ED alleged interference in its investigation, while I-PAC challenged the legality of the searches conducted at its office and Jain’s residence.

On Friday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs staged protests outside Union home minister Amit Shah’s office in New Delhi against the ED’s actions. Several party leaders, including MPs Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, were detained by Delhi Police. In West Bengal, Banerjee announced that she would take to the streets to protest what she described as the BJP’s “blatant misuse of central agencies” and an “assault on democracy”.