New Delhi:
Two Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers who participated in the high-voltage raid against political consultancy firm I-PAC and one of its directors in Kolkata this January received an award for their “exceptional competence” on Friday.
Assistant Directors Vikram Ahlawat and Prashant Chandila received their commendation certificates from Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, who officiated as the chief guest at the 70th ED Day event held in Delhi.
The raid on January 8 at the I-PAC office in Salt Lake and director Pratik Jain’s house on Loudon Street grabbed headlines after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee descended on both locations with state police and administration officials and was seen taking away certain documents.
After this day-long drama, the ED approached the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, claiming “gross abuse of power” by the chief minister as it sought a CBI probe into the incident.
Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (TMC) claimed the ED was trying to take the party’s election strategy documents from these premises.
The two officers were felicitated with an award given by the agency to its investigators who exhibit dedication, hard work and exceptional competence.
Ahlawat, according to his citation, showed “exceptional composure” during the “sensitive” search operation by continuously recording events through incident reports that enabled the ED to bring the matter to the notice of the Supreme Court.
Chandila demonstrated “exceptional professional courage” during the “unprecedented” incident and showed remarkable presence of mind as he meticulously prepared “contemporaneous” “panchnamas” that provided primary evidence during hearings at the top court, his citation said.
While there was no mention of the case they were involved in during the event, ED officials confirmed it to be the January raids against I-PAC in Kolkata.
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