While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office in Kolkata and Chief Pratik Jain’s residence on Thursday, the ED stated that the search is evidence-based and not targeted at any political party.
The ED further specified that the search is ongoing at ten places, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi. "The case relates to illegal coal smuggling, covering various premises linked to the generation of cash, hawala transfer, etc. No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering."
ED Headquarters Unit is conducting search action at 10 premises (6 in West Bengal and 4 in Delhi) under PMLA in connection with coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majee used to steal and illegally excavate coal from ECL leasehold areas of West Bengal. The search action was… pic.twitter.com/ab7PCReiJo
— ED (@dir_ed) January 8, 2026
Reacting to the developments, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said, "I think the Chief Minister and Police Commissioner's actions are unfundamental and undemocratic. In my view, this is an interruption of a Central agency’s work," said Adhikari, while also questioning whether I-PAC is a party office.
"It is a corporate office. They [ED] will look at places, and they [I-PAC] can show their documents. If their return files are in order, they will not be arrested if their house and offices are raided. They will face it," added the Leader of Opposition.
Oh, the distraught.
— BJP (@BJP4India) January 8, 2026
Oh, the fear.
Oh, the worry.
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… pic.twitter.com/imqGymj9uW
Adhikari challenged the chief minister to send agencies to any BJP leaders or anyone’s houses; they won’t find as much money as the arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and their associates linked to scams.
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Banerjee reached Jain’s house around 12pm and the I-PAC office around 1pm. The chief minister went into the office, collected some documents, and put them in her car before addressing the media around 2pm. The TMC president went back upstairs and indicated she would stay at the office until she had secured relevant documents amidst the ED raids.
