Didi walks 6 km to protest ‘theft, trespass’ by ED, lodges 2 FIRs against agency officials
Times of India | 10 January 2026
Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee walked around 6km with thousands of Trinamool supporters on Friday afternoon, less than 10 hours after lodging two FIRs against "unidentified" Enforcement Directorate officials, accusing them of theft, criminal trespass, criminal intimidation and tampering with electronic data.
The FIRs, possibly Bengal's first lodged by a chief minister, follow Thursday's search by ED at the Salt Lake office of political consultancy I-PAC, which works for TMC, and the Loudon Street home of its director Pratik Jain in connection with a coal scam. Banerjee went to Jain's home while the search was on and took away a green folder, a hard disk and phone. She later reached the I-PAC office.
While addressing a rally at the end of the two-hour march from the Jadavpur 8B bus stand to the Hazra crossing, Banerjee said, "What I did was in the capacity of Trinamool chairperson. I did nothing wrong. If you come to kill me, I have every right to defend myself. Why did you come like a thief... You've been doing it since 6 o'clock. I went at 11.30 (Jain's home). You stole everything for five hours. You came to steal information — SIR data, voter information, BLA names, and phone numbers."
Banerjee emailed a complaint against ED to Shakespeare Sarani police station on Thursday night, which led to the registration of the first FIR on Friday morning. The FIR was drawn up under BNS sections 303 (theft), 332 (criminal trespass) and 3 (5) (criminal intimidation), along with section 66 of IT Act (tampering of electronic data). Police have collected CCTV footage from Jain's home to probe the complaint. The second FIR was lodged with Electronic Complex police station in Sector V.
"We are still in a nascent stage of the investigation and we can't comment on the developments at present. We are looking into all available evidence and are speaking to witnesses as per the complaint," said Badana Varun Chandra Sekhar, joint commissioner of police, headquarters, Bidhannagar City Police.
The CM had drafted both complaints while sitting outside the I-PAC office at the Godrej Waterside building in Sector V on Thursday. She had stationed herself there for four hours while ED sleuths were searching the office.
The CM said at the rally at the Hazra crossing, "Just as I love people, I love the twin flowers of my party. How will I fight for the people if the party is not protected?"
She pointed out that I-PAC had once worked with BJP, too. "When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, I-PAC had worked for them. Back then, Prashant Kishor was there (with I-PAC). Now Prashant is no longer there. Pratik oversees it. They have worked for Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan Reddy and Nitish Kumar, too. They handle our IT cell. We have just one such consultancy firm. They (BJP) have so many, yet they have declared a war (against us)."
Warning her detractors, the CM said an injured tiger is more dangerous than a healthy one. "They awakened me through this attack. I feel rejuvenated after yesterday's incident," she said.
Banerjee alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah and Bengal BJP neta Suvendu Adhikari have links with the coal scam, which triggered Thursday's searches. "They talk about coal money, but who took it? It went to Amit Shah through the traitor. He has become Shah's adopted son. Along with him is BJP's Jagannath. The money reaches Suvendu Adhikari via Jagannath and then goes to Amit Shah through Adhikari… You are lucky I have not released any pen drives yet. If you cross limits, I will expose you. I maintain courtesy up to a point, but there is a limit. I know many things, but I keep silent for the sake of the country. If I speak, there will be uproar worldwide," she said.
Attacking Shah, the CM said, "Rioters are in govt — what else can you expect? Their own home minister went missing. Gujarat's former home minister Haren Pandya was murdered... Have you forgotten Godhra, Unnao, Delhi, or Pulwama? Are infiltrators only in Bengal? Who controls the borders? BSF. Under which ministry? Centre. Earlier, BSF jurisdiction was 5km (from the international border). Now it is 50 km. (The change was made) to intimidate villagers. Who is responsible for coal? CISF. Customs, airways, everything is under the Centre."
TMC supporters and others lined up all along the rally route. Children were seen offering flowers to Banerjee.
The CM said, "Everyone walked with us. No one felt tired. There was a new wave of energy, ready for a struggle; as if Bengal had risen again in a new form."