Trinamool MPs protest outside Amit Shah's office over ED raids, clash with cops

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Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra was detained on Thursday as party lawmakers staged a protest outside the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, objecting to Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) office in Kolkata. The protest was part of a broader show of resistance by the opposition party against what it described as the misuse of central agencies.

Senior TMC leader Derek O’Brien and several other party MPs were also detained while demonstrating near Shah’s office. The protest followed ED searches conducted a day earlier at the I-PAC premises in Kolkata, an action that has triggered sharp political reactions from the West Bengal ruling party.

Speaking during the protest, Mahua Moitra accused the Union government of weaponising the ED for political ends. “Yesterday, the entire country, especially Bengal, saw how the ED was misused by the Home Ministry,” she said. Moitra alleged that the agency was sent to “steal our party’s political and strategic information,” adding that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had safeguarded the party’s interests. “Mamata Banerjee is a lioness,” she said.