ED–Mamata Face-Off: Agency Alleges Interference During Raid; CM Targets Amit Shah

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday alleged that search operations at the residence of I-PAC head Pratik Jain in Kolkata and at the political consultancy group’s office were conducted peacefully until West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived with “a large number of police officers”.

The ED’s statement came hours after Mamata Banerjee made a dramatic visit to the residence and office of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain amid searches linked to a money laundering probe connected to alleged coal smuggling in the state. According to the ED, the searches were related to individuals who generated proceeds of coal smuggling, PTI reported.

In videos of her visit, Banerjee appeared visibly angry, a sentiment echoed in her subsequent remarks in which she accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of political vendetta and challenged it to defeat the Trinamool Congress (TMC) “democratically” in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections. She also described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as “naughty” and “nastiest”.

ED allegations and court battle

The ED alleged that a hawala operator linked to coal smuggling in West Bengal facilitated transactions involving tens of crores of rupees to I-PAC.

Meanwhile, both the ED and I-PAC approached the Calcutta High Court over the searches. While the ED accused certain parties of interfering with its investigation, I-PAC challenged the legality of the search operations at Jain’s residence and office.

Mamata attacks Centre, calls search ‘political vendetta’

Targeting the BJP-led central government, under which the ED operates, Mamata Banerjee said the searches were politically motivated and accused Amit Shah of misusing central agencies to intimidate opposition parties.

“This is not law enforcement. Is this how the nastiest and naughty home minister functions—one who cannot protect the country and instead sends agencies to harass people before elections?” she said after visiting Jain’s residence.

“After this, you will be reduced to zero. I am sorry, Mr Amit Shah. The Prime Minister must control his home minister,” she added.

Details of the ED search operation

The ED conducted search operations at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which provides political consultancy services to the ruling TMC and manages its IT and media operations, as well as at Pratik Jain’s residence.

According to a PTI report, Mamata Banerjee arrived at Jain’s residence around noon, shortly after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached the spot. She stayed there for about 20–25 minutes before leaving with a green folder in her hand.

“They raided the residence of our IT chief. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks containing details of our Assembly election candidates. I have brought those back,” Banerjee said after visiting the I-PAC office.

Issuing a challenge to the BJP, Banerjee asked, “What will happen if we reciprocate this ED search by raiding BJP offices in Bengal? We are exercising restraint.”

“If you cannot fight us politically, then why are you coming to Bengal?” she said, daring the BJP to defeat the TMC “in a democratic way”.

BJP hits back

Responding sharply, the BJP accused Mamata Banerjee of attempting to obstruct an official investigation. In a post on X, the party said a sitting chief minister rushing to collect party documents and hard disks from a search site raised “deeper questions”.

“A sitting Chief Minister rushing to the spot, looking breathless, to secure party documents from an official investigation site is not damage control—it indicates a deeper conspiracy,” the BJP said.

“If there is nothing to hide in West Bengal, why would a Chief Minister scramble to secure files from an investigation site, especially from a private organisation’s office?” the post added.