Kolkata: The family of Pratik Jain, chief of political consultancy firm I-PAC, on Thursday filed a police complaint against the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging theft of important documents during a raid at home, an officer said.
The search operation, which began at 6 am, continued for over nine hours, an official of the probe agency said, adding that ED officials left Jain’s residence on Loudon Street in the southern part of the city around 3 pm.
“Shortly after that, Pratik Jain’s wife filed a complaint at Shakespeare Sarani police station alleging theft by the ED. It is alleged in the complaint that essential documents were stolen from their home during the raid,” the police officer told PTI.
Apart from I PAC’s office in Salt Lake and Jain’s residence on Loudon Street, officials told news agency PTI that eight other locations were searched. The raids were conducted from 7 am on Thursday, with central paramilitary forces present.
The agency has also moved the Calcutta High Court, alleging illegal interference during its search operations. The agency has filed a case claiming obstruction and hindrance to the investigation during the raids.
The matter is scheduled to be heard by Justice Suvra Ghosh on Friday.
I-PAC provides political consultancy services to West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and also manages the party’s IT and media operations. The searches drew sharp reactions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who alleged that ED officials attempted to seize internal and sensitive party documents along with hard disks during the raids.
Pratik Jain is an engineer turned political consultant who co-founded I PAC in 2015 with Vinesh Chandel and Rishi Raj Singh. He studied metallurgical engineering and materials science at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, where he also interned with Axis Mutual Fund. After completing his engineering degree, Jain worked as an analyst at Deloitte in 2012.
He later became a founding member of Citizens for Accountable Governance, described on its LinkedIn page as a not for profit organisation aimed at strengthening accountable governance in India. This initiative eventually evolved into I PAC.
Jain also heads the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress, a fact confirmed by Mamata Banerjee.
I PAC describes itself as a platform for students and young professionals to engage meaningfully with politics and governance, without necessarily becoming members of a political party.
