Mamata Banerjee took away key evidence during raids in coal 'scam' case against I-PAC official: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee entered the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain in Kolkata during a raid in a money laundering case linked to alleged coal smuggling, and took away “key” evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices.

In a statement, the federal probe agency also accused Banerjee of subsequently proceeding to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake, from where she, her aides, and the state police “forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence”.

The ED said raids were being carried out on 10 premises, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, as part of a 2020 case registered by the CBI against a coal smuggling syndicate led by Anup Majhi alias ‘Lala’, who allegedly stole and illegally excavated coal from the Eastern Coalfield leasehold areas in and around Asansol in Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district.

A hawala operator linked to coal smuggling facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to the Indian PAC Consulting Pvt Ltd, the registered company of political consultancy firm I-PAC.

“IPAC is also one of the entities linked to Hawala money,” the ED alleged. The proceedings were being conducted peacefully and professionally till the time Mamata Banerjee arrived with a large number of police officers, the ED statement said.

She entered the residential premises of Pratik Jain, the co-founder of I-PAC and head of the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal, and took away key evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices, the ED alleged.

The agency said the actions of Banerjee and the Kolkata Police commissioner resulted in “obstructions” in the ongoing investigation and proceedings being undertaken as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“It is clarified that the search is evidence-based and not targeted at any political establishment. No party office has been searched.

“The search is not linked to any elections, and is part of a regular crackdown on money laundering. It is conducted strictly in accordance with the established legal safeguards,” the ED said.