Kolkata, 12 January (H.S.):

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday spoke out against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent search operation at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC, alleging that the agency had come not to conduct a legitimate search but to “steal information”.

Addressing a meeting of TMC social media workers and supporters at the Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Banerjee shared his views on digital campaigning strategies and advised party workers on countering opposition allegations with facts and logic. During his speech, he also referred to the ED’s action at the I-PAC office.

Abhishek Banerjee said the BJP has claimed that the ED conducted the search in connection with the coal smuggling case, but raised serious objections to the manner and timing of the operation. “There are two major questions. First, no summons has been issued in the coal smuggling case for the last three years. Second, I-PAC has three directors—one based in Karnataka, one in Delhi, and one in Kolkata. Why was a search conducted only at the Kolkata residence of the director? Why was only the Kolkata I-PAC office searched?” he asked.

On the day of the search, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had reached the spot and alleged that files were being removed from the residence and office of the I-PAC head. She had claimed that documents related to party strategy and candidate lists were being taken away under the guise of a search operation.

Echoing the Chief Minister’s allegations, Abhishek Banerjee said, “The ED did not come to conduct a search. They came to steal data. If there was any genuine intention to search, raids would have been conducted at the homes of all three directors or at I-PAC offices in all three locations across the country.”

He further accused the BJP of using the ED to access Trinamool Congress’ internal party information ahead of the Assembly elections. “The ED was misused to collect TMC’s organisational data just before the elections,” Banerjee alleged, intensifying his attack on the BJP and the central government.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh