Pratik Jain, the co-founder and director of the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), has found himself at the centre of a money laundering probe after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids
at the I-PAC office and his residence in Kolkata.
ED officials conducted raids at ten locations, including six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, since 7 am on Thursday. I-PAC’s office in Salt Lake and Jain’s house on Loudon Street in Kolkata were also among the locations searched by the anti-graft agency.
I-PAC, a leading political consultancy in India, designs the poll campaigns for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and also looks after its IT and media cell. The raids at its office prompted a sharp response from the Chief Minister, who alleged that the ED officials were trying to seize sensitive documents of her party.
Who Is Pratik Jain?
Jain is an engineer-turned-political consultant who co-founded I-PAC in 2015 with Vinesh Chandel and Rishi Raj Singh. He completed his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) from IIT Bombay in 2012, during which he interned at Axis Mutual Fund.
After completing his graduation, Jain worked as an analyst at Deloitte for over ayear, and also became a founding member of ‘Citizens for Accountable Governance’, an NGO aimed at strengthening accountable governance in India, as per its LinkedIn page.
He also heads the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress, which was confirmed by Mamata Banerjee herself.
Why Was His House Raided?
The ED raided Jain’s house, citing “specific” evidence against him in connection with some hawala transactions related to a coal mining scam in West Bengal. “One hawala operator linked to layering of proceeds of crime of coal smuggling had facilitated transactions of tens of crores of rupees to Indian Pac Consulting Private Limited,” it said.
During the raids, Mamata Banerjee reached Jain’s home and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using central probe agencies to go after regional parties. “They are confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which have details about our candidates for the Assembly polls. I have brought those back,” she said.
However, the ED rejected Banerjee’s claims and said that the raids were “evidence-based” and did not target any “political establishment”. The agency also accused the CM of obstructing the probe by seizing key documents and electronic devices.
