Mamata Banerjee Stormed ED Raid Site, Snatched Files in Kolkata Coal Scam Drama

New Delhi (India) January 8: High drama erupted in Kolkata on Thursday, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the residence of the Trinamool Congress’s election strategist and the office of the political consultancy group I-PAC during raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate and walked out carrying several files. 

The ED approached the Calcutta High Court later in the day and alleged obstruction in raids by the Chief Minister. This matter will be decided on Friday. 

ED Alleges Obstruction: CM Took Papers, Electronics Amid Raids

A petition brought by the ED at the HC alleged that the CM abused her constitutional powers and entered the residence of the I-PAC chief, where probe agency officials were engaged in the raid. 

"It is clarified that the search is evidence-based and 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. It is conducted strictly in accordance with the established legal safeguards," the ED said.

In a statement, ED said that proceedings were conducted calmly and professionally until CM Mamata showed up with numerous police officers and allegedly confiscated important evidence such as paper documents and electronic goods. 

Hawala Links Exposed: Crores Funneled to I-PAC from Coal Syndicate

On raising serious allegations against the company, ED said that a hawala operator associated with the coal smuggling had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd, the registered company of I-PAC. 

The case began after the ED conducted simultaneous raids at two locations of I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee), founded by Prashant Kishor. Prateek Jain, the head of I-PAC, and Loudon Street (in central Kolkata) home and consultancy group office in Salt Lake were under the hunt. 

As the raids spread, Kolkata’s police chief, Vineet Goyal, was the first senior government official to arrive at Jain’s home. But soon, Mamata Banerjee showed up. She emerged after a few minutes, clearly distressed, holding a green file. 

Chief Minister Accuses ED of Political Vendetta, Blames Amit Shah

Looking into the media, a livid Mamata accused the ED of being "politically motivated" and at the behest of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. She said the raids had been ordered to extract Trinamool's election strategy, candidate lists for the elections as well as confidential party documents. 

The chief of Trinamool said the ED was working to "steal files" attached to the party's campaign strategy. Mamata Banerjee has declared a protest rally on Friday to protest the ED raids. 

"They have raided the residence of our IT chief. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which have details about our candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back," Mamata said.

BJP Slams Mamata's 'Scramble' as Evidence of Deeper Corruption

The BJP said a Chief Minister “scrambling” to extract files from a sanctioned investigation site suggested a more profound conspiracy. 

"This behaviour speaks volumes about what may be buried in those documents and the scale at which anti-national and corrupt activities could be operating under the political protection of Trinamool Congress," the party said.

ED Raids I-PAC Offices in Kolkata and Delhi Over Coal Smuggling Probe

The probe agency has made raids in 10 premises of the IPAC in Kolkata and Delhi on Thursday morning, as part of a 2020 case registered by the CBI against a coal smuggling syndicate run by Anup Majhi alias ‘Lala’, who allegedly stole and illegally excavated coal in the Eastern Coalfield leasehold areas of and around Asansol, within the Paschim Bardhaman district of Bengal.