Kolkata, Jan 9: The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the sequence of events on January 8 in relation to the simultaneous raid and search operations by the central agency officials at the Kolkata office of the India Political Action Committee and the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain.
On Thursday, while simultaneous raid and search operations were taking place at the I-PAC office located in Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, as well as at the residence of its co-founder Pratik Jain on Loudon Street in central Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the locations.
She initially visited Jain’s residence before proceeding to the I-PAC office, accompanied by high-ranking state administrative and police officials. She reportedly left the places along with some paper files and electronic documents. Now, the Union Home Ministry, headed by Amit Shah, has sought a detailed report from ED in the matter.
The ED, the investigation arm of the Union Finance Ministry, had already submitted a report to its parent ministry in the matter, and now the agency will also submit a report separately to the Union Home Ministry, sources aware of the development said.
Similarly, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) authority, whose personnel escorted the ED officials during the raids and search operations at these two places, has also submitted its own report to the Union Home Ministry in the matter.
The CRPF’s parent ministry is the Union Home Ministry. Sources aware of the development said that the Union Home Ministry has directed the ED to submit details on their experiences regarding the hindrances faced by the state administrative machinery led by the Chief Minister during the raid and search operations on Thursday.
The ED has also been asked to give details of the role of senior police and administrative officers from the state government accompanying the Chief Minister when she arrived at the two places during the raid and search operations.
“The report will be prepared by ED’s regional office in Kolkata and first forwarded to the agency’s headquarters in New Delhi, and from there it will be subsequently forwarded to the Union Home Ministry,” said a source.
On Friday, Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh will simultaneously hear three petitions relating to ED’s Thursday operations. The main petition is from the ED accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misusing her constitutional position by allegedly creating hindrances to the official duties of Central agency officials during raid and search operations at these two places. There are two counter-petitions against this main petition by ED, the first by Pratik Jain himself and the second by the Trinamool Congress
IANS
