Watch: Mamata Banerjee aides storm I-PAC office amid ED raid, seize party documents

High drama played out in Kolkata on Thursday after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accompanied by her aides, arrived at the city office of political consultancy firm I-PAC, where the Enforcement Directorate was conducting searches in connection with a money laundering probe. The Chief Minister and her team alleged that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive digital data. Visuals from the premises showed Banerjee's aides entering the office and emerging with files and party papers, which were then placed in her vehicle and taken away.

Speaking to reporters, Banerjee said the ED had targeted her party's IT cell office and the residence of its in-charge. "They were confiscating my party'/s documents and hard disks, which contain details of our candidates for the Assembly elections. I have brought those back," she said. The confrontation followed ED searches at the Kolkata residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain earlier in the day. Banerjee described the action as a case of "political vendetta" orchestrated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.