ED searches I-PAC office, its head Pratik Jain in Kolkata

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches on the premises of political consultancy firm I-PAC and its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said. Jain is the co-founder of the Indian Political Action Committee, or I-PAC, they said. He is also the head of the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal. Some other premises are also being searched by the agency, the sources said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, reached the residence of Jain and condemned the ED action. I-PAC was founded by political strategist Prashant Kishor ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The consultancy firm worked with the Trinamool Congress and the West Bengal government after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.