ED Raids I-PAC Office, Director's Residence In Kolkata; CM Banerjee Calls It 'Politically Motivated'

 

Kolkata : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) — a consulting firm working for Trinamool Congress since 2019 — in Kolkata's Salt Lake area on Thursday morning.

It is learnt that a special team of the central anti-money laundering agency arrived from Delhi for the raid that was also conducted at the Loudon Street residence of Pratik Jain, co-founder and director of I-PAC. ED sources said the raid is connected to an old case registered in Delhi on coal smuggling, in which I-PAC's name has surfaced in several transactions.

 

Following the development, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Jain's residence, whom she claims to be the IT cell chief of the TMC, and said the raids were "politically motivated and unconstitutional". "They have raided the residence of our IT cell chief. 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".

The CM accused the central agency of trying to take away hard disks, mobile phones, candidate lists and internal strategy documents of the ruling party. "Is it the duty of the ED to collect political party data?" she asked. Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma was also at the spot.

 

Banerjee also reached the I-PAC office in Salt Lake. Meanwhile, another ED team visited the residence of a businessman in the Posta of Burrabazar in connection with the same case. The sudden raids, conducted with the assistance of central forces, caught the entire I-PAC team by surprise as they are now busy preparing for the upcoming Assembly polls.

 

As the ED team reached their office in the early morning, there were very few employees who were working on the night shift. The I-PAC office is on the 11th floor of a multi-story building in Sector V. The central forces sealed off that floor, effectively preventing anyone from entering or leaving the office.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari termed Banerjee's visit to Jain's residence during the raid as "unconstitutional and interference" in the central agency's probe, saying that the ED should take steps against the chief minister.

 

"I feel that the chief minister and the Kolkata police commissioner's visit was unethical, unconstitutional and direct interference in the central agency's investigation," Adhikari told reporters.

The raid created a stir in the state political circle. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim has called an emergency press conference on Thursday afternoon, where he is believed to be speaking on the political implications of this raid.

 

The matter is also being discussed within administrative circles and within the ruling party, as Jain is known for his influence in state politics and administration. He met with Banerjee at the state secretariat, Nabanna, on several occasions. I-PAC has acted as a bridge between the ruling party and the government in implementing various schemes and formulating political strategies. Political analysts claim that the organisation also maintains close contact with the office of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

In fact, I-PAC's role in deciding who would be the Trinamool candidates in the previous Assembly elections was quite significant. It is also a coincidence that BJP national president JP Nadda is also in Kolkata to attend party programmes and to meet with state BJP leaders. Both the ruling and Opposition camps are closely monitoring how long the ED's raid on the I-PAC office and Jain's residence lasts

 

As the day progressed, senior I-PAC officials held meetings through video conferences with district members. I-PAC was founded by Prashant Kishor ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and had been working with the TMC and the West Bengal government post-2019 Lok Sabha polls. I-PAC was instrumental in the party's electoral victory in the 2021 Assembly polls with a thumping majority and also in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Following the exit of Kishor from I-PAC, who moved into full-time politics, the organisation is led by three directors: Pratik Jain, Vinesh Chandel and Rishi Raj Singh. Jain is the point man between the organisation and the TMC.