Presence of WB Govt and police officials during Mamata’s intervention of ED raid an ‘illegal act’, claims BJP

Senior leaders of the West Bengal unit of Bharatiya Janata Party have described the presence of officials of West Bengal government and police during Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s intervention in the Enforcement Directorate raids on Indian Political Action Committee offices as an illegal act.

Ms. Banerjee was seen with West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Manoj Pant and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma during the Enforcement Directorate raids on I-PAC office.

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly called the presence of officials as “brazen illegal act” and called for the dismissal of these officers.

On Monday (January 12, 2025), the ED approached the Supreme Court, citing obstruction on behalf of the West Bengal Chief Minister in its, the central agency made officials of Kolkata Police and West Bengal government, party to the case.

“The Kolkata Police have fallen in a trap. Manoj Pant and Rajeev Kumar ( DGP of West Bengal police) should pack their bags,” Mr. Adhikari said.

On Sunday, the BJP leader took to social media and posted a detailed statement on the issue. “Around 50 officers were directly complicit in this daylight robbery of justice... These officers must be IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED and DISMISSED from Service. They are a disgrace to their uniform and have turned the Police force into Mamata Banerjee’s personal goon squad,” Mr Adhikari said in a social media post on X.

He further added that the officers who included people like Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, Principal Secretary Manoj Pant, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma are helping the CM sneak out files during a central agency raid.

Last week, ED officials raided the residence of I-PAC co-founder Prateek Jain and the offices of the organisation, which led to a political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress, where each took out their marches for and against the CM’s intervention during the raid.

BJP IT in-charge Amit Malviya cited newspaper reports and said that the “presence of West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Principal Secretary Manoj Pant with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the ED raid at I-PAC’s Kolkata office has sparked sharp criticism, with former bureaucrats calling it a serious breach of administrative conduct”.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday claimed that appeared more interested in “stealing” than carrying out a fair investigation. Mr. Banerjee said that ED chose to raid the I-PAC office in West Bengal only, and not in places like “Hyderabad and Delhi”, if the central probe agency was conducting a “real investigation” into the organisation.