KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday slammed the overnight raids conducted by the West Bengal police at party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's Kalighat residence, calling it "political vendetta" and noting that the 90-minute-long searches yielded no results.
The raids were carried out by personnel from three different police stations, accompanied by central forces, in connection with an alleged financial fraud case linked to his long-time trusted secretary, Sumit Roy.
Officials from the Salboni police station in West Midnapore district, along with personnel from the Bhabanipur and Kalighat stations under the Kolkata Police jurisdiction were involved in the operation.
The searches began shortly after 2.30 am on Saturday and continued for over four hours, triggering a political storm.
Condemning the action, the TMC alleged that the search was part of a broader campaign to target opposition leaders.
In a post on X, the party said, "Political vendetta gets from bad to worse."
Several TMC leaders echoed the criticism, claiming that the BJP-led Centre is misusing investigative agencies to target political opponents.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose, in a post on X, claimed that a disaster management team brought in to break open locks at Abhishek's residence before the search commenced.
According to Ghose, investigators searched areas "from the second floor to the terrace" and the seizure report prepared after the raids recorded "NIL," indicating that no incriminating material was recovered.
"No evidence. No wrongdoing. NOTHING," she wrote.
The TMC leader described the operation as an act of "political vendetta, intimidation and mental torture," alleging that leaders unwilling to bow to the BJP were being selectively targeted.