ED seeks CBI probe against CM, DGP, Kolkata Police commissioner for evidence theft

KOLKATA: Enforcement Directorate on Friday urged Calcutta High Court to order a CBI probe against Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, state DGP Rajeev Kumar and Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Varma among others for "theft of digital and other evidence, wrongful restraint and confinement of central govt officers and breakdown of rule of law".

In a 28-page petition, a copy of which was accessed by TOI, the ED accused the CM and top Bengal cops of "illegal and unconstitutional interference" and sought their prosecution. On Friday morning, the agency added CM Banerjee among the respondents, along with the senior cops and the CBI.





The petition alleges that CM Banerjee entered the Loudon Street residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain around 12.05 pm and despite the ED officers making a "categorical request for not interfering with the ongoing search proceedings under PMLA," she took help of cops to forcibly take "possession of all digital devices along with key incriminating documents" from the possession of the authorised officer.

Stating that it recorded the sequence of events in a panchanama, the agency said such acts amount to theft of evidence, criminal trespass, destruction and concealment of material evidence and strikes at the integrity of the criminal justice system.

The petition further claimed that later, at I-PAC's Salt Lake office, ED officers were obstructed and not allowed to perform their lawful duties. The agency added that it had come to its knowledge that several FIRs had been registered "in a malicious manner" targeting its officers for carrying out their official duty under the PMLA.

In its petition, ED also detailed I-PAC's Goa links with the coal smuggling probe which led to the search operations. The petition claims, "Concrete material found during investigation revealed that at least Rs 20 crore worth of proceeds of crime was transferred to I-PAC through hawala channels." It added, "As per information, Pratik Jain, co-founder and director of I-PAC, has handled I-PAC operations in Goa."

The ED in its petition told the HC that it started tracking the maze of transactions after inputs that this Rs 20-crore hawala transfer was made by "R Kanti Lal firm" and named the employee who "handled this hawala transfers at Goa". The ED probe led to two firms which worked for I-PAC in Goa during 2021-2022, and were used to route this Rs 20 crore from Kolkata to Goa. The ED also claimed that a Kolkata businessman "assisted in transferring the proceeds of crime through hawala from Kolkata to Goa. He has assisted in transferring Rs 20 crore to Goa to be used by I-PAC in Goa."