ED rushes to HC after face-off with Mamata

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at the residence of I-PAC chief and TMC IT cell head Pratik Jain and at the political consultancy firm's office in Kolkata in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam, triggering high drama.

- FPJ News Service

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Jain's Loudon Street home along with Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma, accusing the central agency of attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents and digital data, and later visited the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, even as the ED alleged obstruction of its investigation and subsequently moved the Calcutta High Court seeking protection to carry out the probe without hindrance.

The drama began around 6-7 am as the searches were carried out at about 10 premises, including six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, in the presence of central paramilitary forces. I-PAC's office and Jain's residence.

Jain is the co-founder and a director of IPAC and also heads the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The ED said Jain was being covered in the probe as there was "specific" evidence against him related to certain hawala transactions and cash deals emanating from the coal scam case.

As the searches were underway, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dramatically reached Jain's residence around noon, minutes after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma arrived there. She stayed for about 20-25 minutes and later emerged carrying a green folder.

"ED raided my IT sector (cell) office, and searched the residence of the in charge of my IT sector (cell). They were confiscating my party's documents and hard disks, which had details about our party candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back," Banerjee told reporters.