Kolkata: Kolkata Police have decided to formally approach the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to obtain the names and details of officers who conducted raids last week at the I-PAC office in Salt Lake and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain, on Loudon Street.
Simultaneously, city police investigators will continue efforts to identify ED and CRPF personnel through CCTV footage collected from both locations.
Sources said that investigators have already learnt that an ED Assistant Director led the raid at Jain’s residence last Thursday. An official communication seeking confirmation and details will be sent to the ED via email.
Police are also attempting to ascertain the identities of six Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel who provided security during the operation. Investigators have learned that six CRPF personnel were deployed to secure the ED team during the raid at Jain’s residence. The Kolkata Police will write to the CRPF’s Eastern Regional Office seeking their details.
As part of the investigation, police officers visited Pratik Jain’s residence on Saturday and seized all CCTV footage and digital video recorders (DVRs) from the premises. Statements of Jain’s domestic staff and security personnel have been recorded, and the building’s security register has been seized.
Investigators are examining whether the ED officers entered their names in the security register on the day of the raid, and if so, what details were provided. If required, police may also record statements of Pratik Jain, his wife and his mother, sources said. The building’s facility manager has already been summoned.
According to preliminary findings, ED officers entered Jain’s residence at around 6.20 a.m. on Thursday and concluded the raid at approximately 2.50 p.m. Kolkata Police personnel reached the spot later, between 11.15 a.m. and 11.20 a.m.
Investigators are reconstructing the sequence of events before and after the police arrival using footage from multiple sources, including CCTV cameras and police body-worn cameras. Several officers present at the scene were wearing body cameras, and the footage captured is being examined closely, sources added.
Last Thursday, ED officials carried out searches at Pratik Jain’s Loudon Street residence and the I-PAC office in Salt Lake in connection with an alleged coal smuggling case. Following news of the raid, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the residence. The Trinamool Congress supremo alleged that ED officials seized election-related party documents, candidate lists, election strategy papers and electronic records under the guise of the raids.
Subsequently, the Chief Minister lodged complaints at Shakespeare Sarani Police Station and Bidhannagar Electronic Complex Police Station, alleging theft of Trinamool Congress election-related documents. Based on these complaints, Kolkata Police have initiated an investigation into the alleged removal of party documents and electronic data during the ED operation.
(IANS)
