West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stormed out of a raid site to allege Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams targeted Trinamool Congress's (TMC) internal data- hard disks, candidate lists and strategies- during searches at I-PAC chief Prateek Jain's Kolkata residence on Thursday (January 8). Labelling it unconstitutional intimidation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre, she clashed with the agency probing a fake jobs scam, while opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari slammed her interference.
ED raids I-PAC in fake jobs scam probe
ED launched searches at 15 locations nationwide on Thursday, focusing on an organised gang duping job-seekers with bogus government posts. In Kolkata, teams hit I-PAC's Salt Lake Sector V office, consultancy for TMC's campaigns and IT cell, and Prateek Jain's Loudon Street home. Sources reported files and documents loaded into vehicles under police escort, fuelling claims of data grabs.
Mamata Banerjee's furious outburst at raid site
Emerging from Prateek Jain's residence, Bengal CM Banerjee accused ED of overreach and said, "Is it ED or Amit Shah's job to seize party hard disks and candidate lists?". "This isn't law enforcement- it's vendetta," she fumed, warning of reciprocal BJP office raids. CM Banerjee tied it to alleged voter deletions via Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of elections, claiming ED sought TMC's electoral intel.
BJP rips Mamata Banerjee for 'obstructing justice'
West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari condemned Banerjee's presence, "She has a history of disrupting central agencies- like her 2021 CBI sit-in." He called her actions "condemnable" for a CM-cum-administrator, predicting ED action against her interference. Adhikari deferred raid details to ED, insisting constitutional bodies proceed unhindered.
ED debunks TMC's 'political raid' claims: Coal scam, hawala probe targets evidence, not parties
ED sources countered West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's allegations of targeted political harassment during searches at I-PAC, clarifying the operation stems from a coal smuggling and hawala case- not elections or party vendettas.Narrative vs. Fact: No political targeting
Narrative: Political strategy of a specific party is being targeted.
Fact: Searches are evidence-based, unrelated to any political establishment.
Narrative: Search is on a political party.
Fact: Raids span 10 locations (6 in West Bengal, 4 in Delhi), probing illegal coal smuggling, cash generation, and hawala transfers—no party offices involved.
Narrative: Searches linked to elections
Fact: Operations form part of routine money laundering crackdowns, with zero election ties.
Legal Searches Amid Illegal Interference
Narrative: ED searches are illegal.
Fact: Operations follow strict legal protocols. However, certain individuals, including constitutional functionaries, illegally intruded at 2 of 10 sites, misusing authority to seize documents.
Coal-hawala trail leads to I-PAC
Raids hit I-PAC, the consultancy and its director's premises- after probe revealed financial transactions linked to the firm in a coal mining scam. Hawala routed scam proceeds to companies and individuals; 8 other sites target related leads.
Political firestorm
The raids, linked to financial irregularities but opaque on specifics, escalate Centre-state tensions. No ED or I-PAC statements yet, but Banerjee vowed resistance, positioning it as BJP election meddling. TMC eyes legal recourse; opposition cheers accountability.
