Mamata accuses ED of seizing TMC documents during ED raid at I-PAC

West Bengal Chief Minister CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday visited the residence of IPAC chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate ED raid alleging that the central agency was attempting to confiscate the Trinamool Congressrsquos TMCrsquos internal documents hard disks and sensitive electionrelated dataShe said the raid at the residence and offices of Jain the incharge of my IT cell was politically motivated and unconstitutional news agency PTI reportedBanerjee arrived around noon shortly after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached the site and stayed for 2025 minutes emerging with a green folder in handldquoThey have raided the residence and offices of our incharge of IT cell They were confiscating my partyrsquos documents and hard disks which have details about our party candidates for the assembly polls I have brought those backrdquo Banerjee told reportersShe alleged that ED officers had taken hard disks mobile phones laptops candidate lists and internal strategy documents of the partyldquoIs it the duty of the ED to collect political party datardquo she askedTMC data and poll strategies seized Mamata BanerjeeThe Indian Political Action Committee IPAC which also manages the TMCrsquos IT and media operations in addition to providing political consultancy was the target of the searchesBanerjee launched a sharp attack on the BJP leadership calling the raid an act of ldquopolitical vendettardquo and accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of misusing constitutional agencies to intimidate Opposition parties PTI reportedldquoThis is not law enforcement Is this how the nastiest home minister functions who can protect the country I am sorry Mr Amit Shah the Prime Minister must control his home ministerrdquo she saidThe ED searches had begun early Thursday at IPACrsquos office in Sector V Salt Lake PTI reported Banerjee alleged the raids started around 6 am when no one was present at the officeldquoThey transferred our data poll strategies and information into their system This is a crimerdquo she said after visiting the IPAC officeSources said several files were brought out of the office and placed in the CMrsquos vehicle while she was still at Jainrsquos residence Banerjee later visited the Sector5 office around 1 pm where senior officers of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate had cordoned off the areaBJP is murderer of democracy West Bengal CMSeveral TMC leaders and ministers including Bidhannagar Mayor Krishna Chakraborty and state minister Sujit Bose were presentSenior state police officers including DGP Rajeev Kumar also reached the site Central forces had sealed the buildingrsquos entry and exit pointsWithout using the VIP lift Banerjee accessed the building through the basement and reached the 11thfloor officeldquoThey have taken our election strategy our SIR data and other details If the assembly polls pass and we have to draw up election plans afresh who will be responsiblerdquo she askedBanerjee accused the BJP of undermining democracy alleging largescale deletion of voters from electoral rolls in West BengalldquoThe BJP is the murderer of democracy Names of over 15 lakh people have been deleted through the SIR process Do they think they can capture the state by deleting voters and raiding IT cell offices of political partiesrdquoDare BJP to fight us politically if they want to win BengalShe asserted that TMC is a registered political party paying income tax and said ldquoThe Centre cannot bulldoze us using money and muscle power I dare the BJP to fight us politically if they want to win BengalrdquoBanerjee said she would remain at the IPAC office until Jain arrived and resumed workThe episode echoes a 2019 standoff at the same Loudon Street address when Banerjee had rushed to the bungalow of then police commissioner Rajeev Kumar during a CBI search and staged a dharna in central KolkataReacting to the developments West Bengalrsquos Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari accused Banerjee of interfering in the functioning of constitutional agenciesldquoI feel that the chief ministerrsquos visit along with the Kolkata police commissioner was unethical unconstitutional and a direct interference in a central agencyrsquos investigationrdquo Adhikari said questioning why TMCrsquos internal documents were allegedly with a private consultancy firmThe ED had not issued any official statement on the searches at the time of reporting and the exact nature of the case being probed remained unclearWith PTI inputs