ED chief holds key meetings in city amid I-PAC raid row

Kolkata: The Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Rahul Navin, held a series of high-level meetings with senior officials in Kolkata on Friday, a development that assumes significance amid a fresh political and legal storm in West Bengal.

Navin recently arrived in the city and convened meetings at the CGO Complex from Friday morning. According to sources, the discussions focused on several high-profile investigations being handled by the Kolkata zonal office, including cases related to coal and sand smuggling, as well as the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment case.

Sources familiar with the meetings said the ED Director sought detailed updates on the current status of investigations, progress in courts, and matters in which prosecution complaints have already been filed. The status of a Sahara-linked case under probe by the Kolkata unit was also reviewed during the discussions.

Navin’s visit comes close on the heels of ED searches at the residence of Pratik Jain, head of political consultancy firm I-PAC, and at the firm’s office, in connection with an old coal smuggling case originating from Delhi. The searches triggered sharp political reactions after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present during the raid and accused the agency of attempting to access her party’s election strategy.

Following the searches, legal proceedings were initiated in the Calcutta High Court. The matter has since reached the Supreme Court of India, which is scheduled to hear the case related to the alleged obstruction during the I-PAC raid on February 3.