The Enforcement Directorate alleged that Banerjee entered the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain during a money-laundering raid and removed “key” documents and electronic devices.
The ED said the searches are part of a 2020 coal-smuggling probe under the PMLA and are evidence-based, not politically motivated or linked to elections.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered the Kolkata residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain during a raid in a money-laundering case linked to alleged coal smuggling, and removed “key” evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices.
In a statement, the federal probe agency also claimed that Banerjee later went to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, from where she, her aides and the state police “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence”.
The ED said it was conducting searches at 10 locations — six in West Bengal and four in Delhi — in connection with a 2020 case registered by the CBI against a coal-smuggling syndicate allegedly led by Anup Majhi alias ‘Lala’. The syndicate is accused of stealing and illegally mining coal from Eastern Coalfield leasehold areas in and around Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district.
According to the agency, a hawala operator linked to coal smuggling facilitated transactions worth tens of crores of rupees to Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd, the registered company of political consultancy firm I-PAC.
“IPAC is also one of the entities linked to Hawala money,” the ED alleged, adding that the proceedings were being carried out peacefully and professionally until Banerjee arrived with a large contingent of police personnel.
The agency further claimed that Banerjee entered the residence of Pratik Jain — co-founder of I-PAC and head of the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress — and took away crucial evidence, including documents and electronic devices.
The ED said the actions of Banerjee and the Kolkata Police commissioner led to “obstructions” in the ongoing investigation being conducted under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“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.
