Kolkata: Enforcement Directorate (ED) Director Rahul Navin will visit West Bengal again. According to ED sources, he will arrive in Kolkata on Thursday for a three-day visit.
However, the reason for the ED Director’s visit has not been clarified by the agency. Many believe that this visit is highly significant in the backdrop of the recent ED raids at the house of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) director Pratik Jain and at the Kolkata office of I-PAC, a political consultancy firm working for the Trinamool Congress and the state government and the subsequent conflict with the state government.
According to sources, three more legal advisors are coming to the state along with the ED Director. Sources indicate that Rahul Navin will speak with ED officials. A meeting with the CBI sleuths is also possible.
On January 8, the ED raided the house and office of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at both locations during the search operation. She was accompanied by State Police DGP Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma.
Notably, I-PAC currently handles the Trinamool Congress’s upcoming Assembly election-related work. The ruling party in the state alleged that the BJP used the ED to try to obtain the Trinamool’s list of candidates and electronic strategy. They also claimed that the ED wanted to seize important party information from the I-PAC office.
Mamata Banerjee was seen leaving the I-PAC office and Pratik Jain’s house with several documents and files. She claimed that she did not go there as the administrative head of the state, but as the ‘Chairperson’ of the Trinamool Congress.
Following Mamata’s visit with her entourage, the ED reacted strongly. The matter reached the courts. After going through the Calcutta High Court, the case is now pending in the Supreme Court.
The ED questioned the role of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the state police. One of the ED’s demands is a CBI investigation into the incident. The central and state investigative agencies are involved in a legal battle surrounding the I-PAC incident.
Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police have taken action against the ED, while the ED has moved court against the police. Currently, the court has ordered that no action be taken against the ED.
Amid the ongoing tension between the state government and the ED, Rahul Navin is arriving in Kolkata. On Friday, he will hold a meeting with the ED officials of the state at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake. He is scheduled to fly back to Delhi on Saturday.
According to sources, ED officials have been asked to be present at the CGO Complex for all three days.
Earlier, the ED director had visited the state on January 9, 2024. Just four days before that, ED officials were attacked during a search operation at the house of expelled Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali. The attack on the ED had caused an uproar across the state and the country.
(IANS)
