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Several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were detained by Delhi Police on Friday after staging a protest outside the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, escalating the political confrontation between the ruling party in West Bengal and the BJP-led Centre over recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids.
Among those detained were TMC MPs Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, who were seen being pushed into police vans by security personnel. MPs Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, Kirti Azad and Sharmila Sarkar were also taken into custody and later brought to Parliament Street police station.
The MPs were protesting the ED’s searches at the offices of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in Kolkata and the residence of its chief, Pratik Jain, in connection with an alleged coal smuggling and money-laundering case. Holding placards reading “Amit Shah + ED versus People of Bengal” and “Bengal rejects Modi-Shah’s filthy tactics”, the MPs accused the Centre of misusing investigative agencies to target the Trinamool Congress ahead of elections.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra defended Banerjee’s actions and accused the BJP of using central agencies as political tools. “The BJP is using the ED as a political dacoit, for political loot and political espionage. What happened yesterday was nothing but political espionage,” Moitra said. “They are trying to steal our strategic and political information because they cannot fight us on the ground. Mamata Banerjee is a tigress. What she did was protect her party’s documents and data. ED was conducting a raid, and Mamata Banerjee raided the ED,” she added.
Echoing similar sentiments, TMC MP Satabdi Roy said the BJP’s actions reflected its fear of defeat in West Bengal. “The BJP knows it is going to lose the upcoming Assembly elections. That is why it is pulling out every trick in the book and using agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax to harass the people of Bengal,” she said. “Such arm-twisting tactics will only cost them more seats, because the people of the state stand firmly with the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee.”
The protest marked a sharp escalation in the standoff between the TMC and the central agency, a day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a dramatic visit to Pratik Jain’s residence and I-PAC’s office during the ED searches. That episode triggered a political storm, with the TMC alleging political vendetta and the ED accusing the Chief Minister of obstructing its investigation.
The ED searches on Thursday had drawn widespread attention after Mamata Banerjee arrived at the premises, claiming that the agency was attempting to “loot” sensitive party documents. Videos of the Chief Minister leaving with files and electronic devices quickly went viral on social media. The ED later said the searches had been proceeding peacefully until Banerjee arrived with a large police contingent.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP-led Centre, Banerjee described the ED action as an act of “political vendetta” and targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “This is not law enforcement. Is this how the nastiest and naughty Home Minister functions? He cannot protect the country and is sending agencies to harass people before elections,” she said after visiting Jain’s residence.
The ED has maintained that the raids are part of an ongoing probe into the generation and laundering of proceeds from illegal coal smuggling and are “evidence-based”, rejecting allegations of political motivation.
