ED raids I-PACK office in Kolkata, upset CM Mamata takes away documents (Photo-X)
State Bureau, Jagran, Kolkata. High voltage drama was witnessed during the marathon search operation conducted by ED on Thursday on the premises of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), an organization doing political and election management work for Trinamool Congress, and its director Prateek Jain in Kolkata.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, shocked by the 12-hour-long raid as part of the money laundering investigation in the coal smuggling case, reached Jain's residence on Loudon Street in the morning and then went to his office in Salt Lake Sector-5. Mamta left from here with a file and laptop. After this she stayed here for about four hours.
Condemning the action of ED, he alleged that during the raid, the central agency stole and looted hard disks, documents related to the party's internal and election strategy, sensitive organizational data and confidential list of candidates, data of SIR along with laptop, phone and documents. Mamta said that this is a crime.
For this an FIR will be filed against ED. On the other hand, ED accused him of obstructing the investigation and forcibly snatching documents and digital evidence. ED has approached the Calcutta High Court regarding this. On the other hand, Trinamool has also reached the High Court opposing the ED action.
I-pack has also been included in the case. Hearing in both the cases will be held on Friday. Let us tell you that Prateek Jain is also the co-founder of I-PAC and head of the IT cell of Trinamool Congress.
This entire action is based on the CBI FIR lodged in November 2020 and subsequently the ECIR lodged by the ED, in which the main accused Anoop Maji and his associates are accused of illegally mining coal from the lease areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) and selling it in various districts of Bengal.
ED investigation has revealed a big hawala network behind the smuggling. According to the investigation, illegal earnings worth crores of rupees obtained from coal smuggling were transferred through Hawala operators. The shocking revelation was that a huge amount of funds were transferred to I-Pak through this network. Under this series, raids were conducted at four places in Delhi and six places in Kolkata.
According to the ED, the search process was being carried out in a professional manner. In the afternoon, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with her convoy and heavy police force reached the I-PAC office and Jain's residence and seized important physical documents and electronic equipment from there. His associates and the state police forcibly removed digital and documentary evidence. During this, Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma was also present.
Questions on the role of Kolkata Police
During the raid, top officials of Kolkata Police, including the Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner (South), entered the premises and checked the identity cards of ED officials. The ED says that their action was completely legal, but the interference of the state administration has created a major hindrance in the ongoing investigation under PMLA.
Seeing the growing controversy, ED has clarified that this raid is not inspired by any political party or elections. No party office has been searched. This action is a routine legal process against money laundering. The search operation has been conducted in strict accordance with established legal safeguards.
FIR lodged against ED: On behalf of Prateek Jain's relatives, an FIR has been lodged against ED at Shakespeare Sarani police station in Kolkata. He is accused of theft at a residence on Loudon Street.
Shah is the worst home minister
Mamta made a sharp attack on Home Minister Amit Shah and asked whether the work of ED and Amit Shah is to steal or collect the hard disk, list of candidates and strategy of the political party? Describing the action as an act of intimidation, Mamata said that this (Amit Shah) is the worst and most incompetent Home Minister who is not able to handle the security of the country. Now he is conducting raids and taking away all the documents of my party.
Said what would happen if I raid BJP office? On one hand, they are removing the names of voters by getting SIR done before the elections in Bengal, on the other hand, they are trying to snatch all the information about my party through central agencies.