West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a broadside against the Centre over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain’s residence in Kolkata as part of a money laundering investigation.
I-PAC handles the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The situation took a dramatic turn when Banerjee arrived at Jain’s residence amid the ED raid. She alleged that ED officials were attempting to seize TMC’s hard drives, internal documents, and sensitive organizational data.
“They are trying to take our party's hard drives, strategies, and plans. Is it the duty of the ED to collect political parties' documents?” she questioned.
Banerjee further alleged that the central agency was trying to access the ruling party's internal strategy, candidate lists, and confidential digital material—none of which had any connection to the financial probe.
“This is not law enforcement; this is political vendetta. The home minister is behaving like the nastiest home minister, not someone who protects the country,” she added.
Terming the ED raid an act of intimidation, Banerjee warned that similar actions against the BJP would provoke strong reactions.
"What would happen if I raided the BJP party office? On one side, they are deleting the names of voters by carrying out the SIR in West Bengal… Because of the elections, they are collecting all the information about my party,” she said.
The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at 15 locations across the country as part of its investigation into a fake government job scam in West Bengal. The scam allegedly involves an organized network that duped candidates by offering fraudulent appointments.
