ED Raid on I-PAC Offices, Residence, Political Slugfest between BJP and Opposition

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 8: The raid on Thursday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at the offices and residence of the owner of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), a political consultant of the West Bengal ruling party the Trinamool Congress, ostensibly in connection with an alleged coal scam, has sparked off a political slugfest between the BJP and the opposition parties.

The ED has also moved the Calcutta High Court alleging that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, despite holding a constitutional office was “obstructing investigation” and “defending those involved in coal smuggling and money laundering,” and seeking its permission for filing a petition alleging interference in its investigation,

The ED alleged that Ms Banerjee had walked out with a laptop, phone and multiple documents from the house of Pratik Jain, the chief of election consultant I-PAC and their offices, during the raid by the central agency. Banerjee on the other hand has claimed that the raid was politically motivated and engineered by the BJP.

The ED has denied the allegations, saying the search was “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 regular crackdown on money laundering. The search is conducted strictly in accordance with established legal safeguards,” the ED said in a statement.

The family of Pratik Jain has also filed a complaint with the police against the ED, alleging theft of important documents during the raid, the police said.

The ED raid has sparked another face-off between the BJP and the Opposition. Tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP’s Swapan Dasgupta posted on X, “When a Chief Minister personally removes ostensibly incriminating documents from an office that is being searched by the ED (or any other empowered body), she is wilfully putting herself above the Constitution & Rule of Law. Are some people more equal than others?”

Taking a swipe at Ms Banerjee, the BJP said on X, “A sitting Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) rushing to the spot, looking clueless and breathless, to collect party documents and hard disks is not damage control; it indicates a deeper conspiracy.” “Oh, the distraught. Oh, the fear. Oh, the worry,” official BJP handle’s X post read.

“When the ED raided the I-PAC office and the residence of its chief Pratik Jain, what followed raised far more disturbing questions. A sitting Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) rushing to the spot, looking clueless and breathless, to collect party documents and hard disks is not damage control; it indicates a deeper conspiracy,” it stated. “If there is nothing to hide in West Bengal, why would a Chief Minister scramble to secure files from an official investigation site? And that too, from a private organization’s office?” the post further read.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari termed Ms Banerjee’s visit to IPAC chief Pratik Jain’s house on Thursday as “unconstitutional and interference” in the central agency’s probe. He said 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,” Mr Adhikari told reporters soon after their visit to Jain’s residence at Loudon Street in Kolkata, as an ED raid was going on there.

The Opposition lost no time in hitting back. “ED now raids political consultants because it has failed to raid facts, truth or credibility. IPAC raid in Kolkata is yet another chapter in the BJP’s playbook of coercion. When democracy is inconvenient, agencies are weaponized,” Congress’s Abhishek Singhvi said in a post on X. “The BJP is losing badly in Bengal. First proof!” posted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

According to the ED, its investigation has revealed that a coal smuggling syndicate allegedly led by Anup Majee was involved in illegal excavation and theft of coal from Eastern Coalfields Limited leasehold areas in West Bengal. The illegally mined coal was reportedly sold to factories and plants located in districts including Bankura, Bardhaman and Purulia.

The probe further found that a significant portion of the illegally sourced coal was supplied to the Shakambhari Group of companies. Investigators also uncovered a hawala network allegedly used for layering and transferring the proceeds of crime. Statements and other evidence gathered during the investigation confirmed the hawala nexus, the agency said. The ED claimed that one hawala operator facilitated transactions involving tens of crores of rupees to Indian Pac Consulting Private Limited which has emerged as one of the entities linked to the alleged hawala money trail.

The TMC chairperson said the raids were “politically motivated to steal party data.” Ms Banerjee said crucial data relating to Trinamool Congress strategy document and candidate list was taken away by ED. “They [BJP] are great killers of democracy. How can they do it [raid I-PAC co-founder residence]. What will happen if we reciprocate this ED search by raiding BJP party offices in Bengal,” Ms Banerjee told media persons. Later in the day, the Chief Minister said FIR would be registered against this action of the ED. Ms Banerjee said protests would be held in all blocks of the State against this attack of the BJP.

According to ED sources, a constitutional functionary had snatched away a file during the raid. The ED said no office of a political party was targeted during the raid. “The raids were in connection with a case registered in connection with coal pilferage scam,” the agency official said.

Ms Banerjee was accompanied by senior police officials including Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma and other senior officials of West Bengal police when she entered the residence of I-PAC co-founder. When she came out of the residence of I-PAC co-founder at Loudon Street in Kolkata, the Chief Minister was seen with a file which she was not carrying when she entered.

The ED said it conducted raids at as many as 10 locations on Thursday, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi in connection with a money laundering probe in West Bengal, which included office of top political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its co-founder and director Pratik Jain, both in Kolkata. I-PAC does political consultancy for the Trinamool Congress and also looks after its IT and media cell.

Amid high drama, Mamata Banerjee turned up to Jain’s place in south Kolkata during the raid and alleged that the probe agency was attempting to seize her party’s sensitive documents and hard drives which contained information about the party’s election strategy.

After Banerjee’s intervention in the raid, the lawyer representing the Enforcement Directorate drew the attention of Justice Suvra Ghosh of Calcutta High Court to the matter and sought permission to file a petition alleging interference into its probe and to make sure that it was allowed to conduct its investigation without any obstruction.

The drama started early as the ED reaching Jain’s residence at 7.30 am. Around noon, the state police showed up, followed by Mamata Banerjee. “The search action was undertaken in a peaceful manner, till the arrival of Chief Minister of West Bengal along with police personnel and officers of West Bengal administration, who forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidences in two of the premises,” the ED statement read.

“The CPA’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 evidences. The above actions have resulted in obstruction in ongoing investigation and proceedings under the PMLA,” the statement added.

Speaking to reporters outside Jain’s residence, Banerjee said the ED officials have “taken our party data, laptop, iPhone and party election strategy including SIR… They have taken our tax papers, our bank account details… You have taken out all data. It is an insult to all the IT sector. Is it not a crime? I am waiting for justice”.

“We are gentle, we are sober, but if you give me pain, I won’t stay quiet. This is not a private organisation. IPAC is authorised by us and they are our team. If we build the data now, the election will be over,” said the Chief Minister, who is hoping for a fourth straight term in the assembly elections due early this year.

Calling the BJP killer of democracy, she questioned if it would be all right if “I raid their party office.” “In the name of SIR, 1.5 crore voters have been deleted. If you have the courage, fight with us electorally Amit Shah Ji,” she added. Regarding her visit to Jain’s residence, the Chief Minister said, “I was calling Pratik Jain, but he didn’t answer his call. So I found out what happened. Then I went there to his residence and saw the ED.”

The probe agency alleged that Banerjee entered Jain’s home during the raid and took with her key evidences such as physical documents and electronic devices. It also alleged that after Jain’s residence, Banerjee went to I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake with her aides and police and “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence” from there.

ED said Banerjee’s actions, along with the Kolkata Police commissioner who was also present when she came to Jain’s residence, led to “obstructions” in the ongoing probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Mamata Banerjee said the raid at the residence of Jain, whom she termed as the party’s IT chief, was “politically motivated and unconstitutional.” “They have raided the residence of our IT chief. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which has details about our candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” she said.

“If you [BJP] cannot fight with us, then why are you coming to Bengal?” Mamata Banerjee asked, challenging the rival party to “defeat” the TMC “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. I am sorry Mr Prime Minister, please control your home minister…,” Banerjee said.

The I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain is an engineer-turned-political consultant who co-founded I-PAC over ten years back in 2015, along with Vinesh Chandel and Rishi Raj Singh. Jain did his engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) in metallurgical engineering and materials science, during which, he interned at Axis mutual fund.

After his engineering, in 2012, Jain worked as an analyst at Deloitte before becoming a founding member of ‘Citizens for Accountable Governance’, a “not-for-profit organization with a vision to further strengthen accountable governance in India”, according to its LinkedIn, which eventually culminated into I-PAC.

I-PAC describes itself as a “platform of choice for students and young professionals to participate in and make meaningful contribution to political affairs and governance of the country, without necessarily being part of a political party.”

The Trinamool Congress had engaged I-PAC for providing support to the party over the past several years. I-PAC had helped the Trinamool shape its electoral and political strategy in the 2021 Assembly polls and subsequent elections in West Bengal.

In 2019, the Chief Minister had tried to stop the raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation when the agency was looking for former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who is now the Director General of State Police. Ms Banerjee had also sat on a dharna against the CBI raids on Mr Kumar during February 2019.