West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain during Enforcement Directorate (ED) search operations on Thursday. The development followed allegations by the chief minister that the agency was “attempting to seize Trinamool Congress (TMC) hard drives, internal records and sensitive party-related material.”
“They have raided the residence of our IT chief. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which has details about our candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” Banerjee said.
Simultaneous search operations were conducted at the Kolkata office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which provides strategic and political consultancy services to the ruling TMC and oversees its IT and media-related functions.
Visuals that emerged on social media showed Banerjee visiting both Jain’s residence and the I-PAC office amid commotion, as she navigated through media presence in a visibly charged atmosphere.
Following the episode, the chief minister announced that the TMC would stage demonstrations across the state later in the day, protesting what she described as the ED’s unlawful seizure of party materials during the raids.
"Is it the duty of Home Minister Amit Shah and the ED to take away all my party documents? If I go to the BJP party office, what will be the result? Under the SIR, 5 lakh names have been deleted. Just because there is an election, they are taking away all my party’s documents,” Banerjee said questioning the intent behind the ED raid, further alleging Centre’s “political interference.”
In a pointed challenge, the chief minister asked, “What will happen if we reciprocate this ED search by raiding BJP party offices in Bengal; we are exercising restraint.”
Banerjee also announced statewide protests by the TMC later in the day, describing the ED action as an “ED loot” of party documents from the I-PAC office.
The BJP reacted sharply to Banerjee’s presence at the raid site. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari accused the chief minister of improperly intervening in an ongoing investigation by a central agency and termed the move a violation of constitutional norms.
"I feel that the chief minister and the Kolkata police commissioner's visit was unethical, unconstitutional and direct interference in the central agency's investigation," Adhikari told reporters, adding that the ED should initiate action against the chief minister.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari further alleged that the chief minister’s conduct reflected anxiety within the ruling party, claiming the ED action had exposed alleged financial irregularities linked to the TMC.
Meanwhile, ED later issued an official clarification, stating that the searches were part of an “evidence-driven probe” and not aimed at any political entity. The agency said operations were underway at a total of 10 locations, including premises in West Bengal and Delhi.
