ED raids on I-PAC: BJP accuses Mamata of ‘destroying evidence’, CPI(M) demands her arrest

The Opposition BJP, as well as the CPI(M), on Wednesday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of destruction of evidence as she barged into I-PAC chief Pratik Jain’s residence in Kolkata and collected files and a laptop even as the ED was conducting raids on the premises in connection with a coal smuggling case.

“Today, she (Mamata Banerjee) intervened in an ongoing investigation by a central agency in a criminal case. This is destruction of evidence, obstructing government officers from carrying out their duties, trying to hide the accused persons. TMC cannot be separated from this corruption. TMC leaders are involved in the coal scam. Chief Minister’s raid on the office of I-PAC puts a seal on it. The chief minister took away the files. This is unwanted from a chief minister of a state,” West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said.

“Once, there were posters of Mamata Banerjee as a symbol of honesty put across Kolkata. Today, Mamata Banerjee put the last nail in the coffin of her image,” the BJP leader added.

“There were raids earlier, too, by the ED and CBI. But this never happened. In case of CBI trying to interrogate Rajeev Kumar (the then Kolkata police commissioner) in 2019 in connection with Saradha ponzi scam, we had seen a similar act by Mamata Banerjee who sat on a dharna,” Bhattacharya said.

Stating that I-PAC director Pratik Jain “is neither a TMC leader nor an MP or MLA”, the BJP leader said, “Why the ED raided his home, that ED will tell. Why hold the BJP responsible?”

His party colleague and Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari demanded legal action against the TMC supremo. “I am not privy to the investigation details that prompted the ongoing ED raids. But I can tell you this is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee has made direct interference in the job of a central investigating agency. She has done that before at the CBI office at Nizam Palace and during the agency’s raids at the former Kolkata CP Rajeev Kumar’s residence. She has made this practice, which is both illegal and unconstitutional, into a habit,” Adhikari said.

He urged the law enforcement agencies to take strong legal action against the chief minister, saying that else it would set a wrong precedent and give out the wrong message to the people of the state.

Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim demanded the chief minister’s arrest, accusing her of hiding evidence of alleged manipulation of votes.

“She was seen leaving with files and a laptop. She claimed it had party information. But we think it had documentation for vote manipulation. That is what I-PAC does. We demand immediate lodging of a case against the chief minister and top police officials who were escorting her,” said the CPI(M) state secretary.

Questioning Mamata Banerjee for calling Pratik Jain as the party’s “IT sector chief”, Salim asked, “When did Pratik Jain join TMC? We never knew about him joining the TMC. Is his home a party office? The ED raided the office of I-PAC at Salt Lake. Is it a party office of the TMC as claimed by the chief minister?”

Claiming the entire episode a “stage-managed” affair between the BJP and the TMC before the West Bengal Assembly elections, the CPI(M) leader said, “Drama over the raid is being done, but the truth will not come out… Even during the RG Kar rape-murder, despite investigation by a central agency, the truth never came out.”

Salim alleged that the kingpins in the alleged coal scam case are not being investigated by the central agencies.

Former state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, meanwhile, alleged that I-PAC acts as the TMC’s “eyes and ears” and is engaged in “unethical and conspiratorial” police activities in West Bengal to ensure the TMC’s electoral success.

“I-PAC is like an investigating agency of the TMC. They are into vote manipulation,” he said.

Speaking to PTI, the former Congress MP said, “I-PAC does not contest elections, but controls the internal functioning of the TMC, deciding who will sit in which position, who will become a leader, and even influencing internal voting. These people are directly involved in the entire process. The money collected through all this is sent to the TMC office, and I-PAC takes its share from it. This is the reality of I-PAC.”

“I want to ask Didi (Mamata Banerjee), why are you so worked up with the actions of the ED. This agency has launched attacks on many political parties in this country, including the Congress, where it insulted Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. You weren’t bothered then. You are selective in your reactions,” the Congress leader alleged.

Chowdhury claimed Mamata Banerjee’s “selective outrage” was aimed at protecting her party’s vested interests, which are “overseen” by the entity.

“So, was this reaction against the ED directed against the agency’s ill-framed actions, or was it to protect those who help you in the elections by means of various misdeeds? Because I-PAC can stoop down to every possible level to win elections,” he added.