West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has strongly rebuked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at I-PAC’s office in Kolkata. Banerjee alleged that the federal agency took away party documents, warning the saffron party that their state office too could be raided in a similar way.
She said the raid took place as the BJP wanted to collect information about her party ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
"Is it the duty of the ED, Amit Shah to collect the party's hard disk, candidate list?... The nasty, naughty Home Minister who cannot protect the country and is taking away all my party documents. What will be the result if I raid the BJP party office? On one side, they are deleting the names of all the voters by carrying out the SIR in West Bengal...Because of the elections, they are collecting all the information about my party," the CM said.
The TMC supremo alleged that the ED teams transferred data from their hard disk and also took away several papers during the raid.
"I heard that ED's Forensic Team had come and they transferred some data. They took our hard disk, our financial papers, political papers... BJP has lakhs and crores of property, but CBI and ED have not caught anyone," she said.
Bengal CM’s message for PM Modi
CM Banerjee also asked PM Modi to “control” the Home Minister and adopt “democratic ways” to fight against the TMC
"I am sorry Mr. Prime Minister, please control your Home Minister... If you (BJP) cannot fight with us, then why are you coming to Bengal? Defeat us in a democratic way. You are using agencies to loot our papers, our strategy, our voters, our data, our Bengal... By doing all this, the number of seats you were getting will be reduced to zero," she added.
She also said the party workers will hold a protest against the raids across the state.
ED moves Calcutta HC, issues statement
The Enforcement Directorate has moved the Calcutta High Court, alleging illegal interference during its search operations. The matter will be heard on Friday.
Besides, the probe agency has also issued a statement after TMC’s allegations. The ED said the raids were in connection with a coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee and were entirely evidence-based. It said no party office was targeted.
“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,” the statement read.
The agency also alleged that CM Banerjee “forcibly” took away electronic devices and documents along with her aides.
“The CM’s convoy then proceeded to I-PAC’s office premises, from where Ms. Banerjee, her aides, and the state police personnel forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence. The actions have resulted in obstruction in ongoing investigation and proceedings under the PMLA,” it added.
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