KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches on Thursday at the Kolkata office and residence of Pratik Jain, a director of the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to an alleged multi-crore coal smuggling scam.

The raids, which also covered several locations in Delhi, escalated into a high-profile confrontation when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made an unannounced visit to the sites. She accused the ED of attempting to confiscate sensitive Trinamool Congress (TMC) data, including election strategies and candidate lists, ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls.

The ED strongly denied the allegations, stating that the operation was strictly evidence-based and unrelated to any political activity. The agency further claimed that Banerjee, along with state police and her aides, interfered with the investigation by removing documents and electronic devices from the premises.

The searches began early Thursday morning at around 10 locations, including I-PAC's office in Salt Lake Sector V and Jain's residence on Loudon Street in central Kolkata. Central paramilitary forces provided security during the operation.

Banerjee arrived at Jain's residence around noon, shortly after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached the spot. She spent about 20-25 minutes inside before leaving with a green folder, a hard disk and a mobile phone.  Later, she proceeded to the I-PAC office around 1 pm. There, she alleged that ED officials had taken hard disks, laptops, mobile phones, and internal TMC documents containing poll strategies and voter data.

"This is a political vendetta," Banerjee told reporters, criticising the central government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for allegedly misusing agencies to target opposition parties. She questioned the ED's role in accessing political data and announced a protest rally in Kolkata on Friday against the raids.

The ED described the probe as stemming from a 2020 CBI case involving illegal coal mining in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district, allegedly masterminded by Anup Majhi, also known as Lala. The agency alleged that hawala transactions worth tens of crores were routed to I-PAC's registered entity.

In response to Banerjee's actions, the ED accused her of obstructing justice under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and approached the Calcutta High Court to file a complaint. I-PAC also moved the court challenging the legality of the searches.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned Banerjee's intervention, with Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari calling for legal action against her for interfering with a central agency's work.

The incident has heightened political tensions in West Bengal, with assembly elections due in a few months. I-PAC, founded by strategist Prashant Kishor, has been associated with the TMC since 2019, handling its IT, media, and campaign operations.