In West Bengal, the state’s political scene turned heated over the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raid at the Loudon Street residence of Pratik Jain, head of I-PAC, in connection with a coal smuggling case dating back few years. ED officials started conducting searches at both Jain’s home and office this morning, accompanied by central security forces.

In an interesting turn of even around noon, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee herself and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma arrived at Jain’s residence. The Chief Minister emerged from Jain’s house carrying some documents and hard disks. Showing them to the journalists present, she stated that Pratik Jain is a party worker, and alleged that under the guise of investigation, attempts were being made to seize important documents such as the party’s candidate lists.

After leaving Jain’s residence, the Chief Minister went straight to I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake, where ED officials were also conducting searches. Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the Chief Minister of obstructing the ED’s investigation and demanded legal action against her. He claimed that Mamata Banerjee had interfered with investigative processes on previous occasions as well.