Income tax personnel searched properties linked to Debasish Kumar, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Rashbehari; Miraj D. Shah, one of the four proposers for chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s candidature from Bhabanipur; and Kumar Saha, a party leader in Kalighat, on Friday, six days before Bengal goes to the polls.
The IT department did not issue a formal release about the raids. Sources said they were linked to alleged tax violations.
Trinamool leaders questioned the timing and branded it another attempt by Delhi to intimidate voters here.
Among the three, Debasish had faced Enforcement Directorate interrogators twice earlier in connection with the agency’s probe into an alleged land-grabbing case.
Senior IT department officials clarified on Friday that the jurisdiction was separate for the two agencies.
“The ED is tasked with investigating violations of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act). The IT department conducts raids for income tax violations,” said one official. “The jurisdiction for action is separate.”
Accompanied by central forces, a team arrived at an Elgin Road building linked to Shah in the afternoon and went to his second-floor home.
Shah, whose LinkedIn profile lists him as specialising in “direct tax advisory”, is the vice-president of The Bhawanipur Education Society’s governing body and CEO of DJ Shah and Company, a firm specialising in legal and professional services.
Sources in the Trinamool said Shah was with three other proposers when Mamata filed her nomination on April 8.
On Friday, Mamata slammed the BJP-led Central government for the raids.
Addressing poll rallies, Mamata called the BJP “a shameless and impudent party”.
BJP leaders refused to reply to Mamata’s charges. “How can we comment on why officers from an investigating agency went to certain addresses?” asked Debjit Sarkar, a BJP state spokesperson.
IT teams arrived at Debasish Kumar’s Manoharpukur Road home around 6am. One team went to his relative’s house nearby and another reached his ward committee office on Moti Lal Nehru Road, which is a part of the Ballygunge Assembly constituency.
Sources close to the MLA said he was at home when the IT personnel arrived.
The BJP has fielded Swapan Dasgupta against him in Rashbehari.
By afternoon, his supporters gathered on the road outside and chanted slogans condemning the raids. “Why were the raids conducted now?” asked a party worker.
While the search operations at three ended earlier, the one at Debasish Kumar’s house lasted well past 8pm. His supporters greeted him after the IT operations ended.
“Today’s raids will work in my favour,” he said.
IT personnel visited addresses linked to Kumar Saha, believed to be one of Kumar’s close associates, on Greek Church Road in Kalighat.