TMC MPs Detained After Protest Against ED Raids Outside Amit Shah’s Office
TMC MPs, including Mahua Moitra and Derek O'Brien, were detained while protesting outside Amit Shah's office.
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On 9 January 2026, Trinamool Congress MPs, including Mahua Moitra and Derek O'Brien, were detained by Delhi Police while protesting outside the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The demonstration was organised in response to Enforcement Directorate raids on the I-PAC office in Kolkata, which is associated with the TMC’s election strategy. The protestors were removed from the site and taken to Parliament Street Police Station. The incident occurred amid heightened political tensions ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.
According to The Indian Express, the Enforcement Directorate’s action targeted I-PAC, a political consultancy firm advising the TMC, in connection with a coal smuggling case. The raids marked the first time a private election management company came under such scrutiny, drawing sharp criticism from opposition leaders who alleged selective use of central agencies before elections.
As reported by The Hindu, the protest outside the Home Ministry was not permitted due to prohibitory orders and security concerns. Eight TMC MPs, including Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, Kirti Azad, and Sharmila Sarkar, joined Mahua Moitra and Derek O'Brien in the demonstration. The MPs attempted to enter the Kartavya Bhawan but were stopped and subsequently detained by police.
As highlighted by Amar Ujala, Mahua Moitra stated after her detention, “We have been detained and brought to Parliament Street police station. We were protesting peacefully outside the office of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who most shamelessly sent his Enforcement Directorate, the Extortion Directorate, to raid our party’s strategy office.”
Visuals from the protest showed Mahua Moitra being carried by police personnel while raising slogans, as coverage revealed. Moitra condemned the police action and asserted that the TMC would prevail in the upcoming West Bengal elections, despite the central agencies’ actions.
MPs held placards with slogans such as “Amit Shah + ED versus People of Bengal” and “Bengal REJECTS Modi-Shah's FILTHY TACTICS” as reporting indicated. The protestors were vocal in their opposition to what they described as political vendetta and the misuse of investigative agencies.
Eight TMC MPs, including Derek O'Brien and Mahua Moitra, were seen staging a dharna outside Amit Shah’s office, holding placards and raising slogans against the ED raids as analysis showed. The standoff followed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the I-PAC office in Kolkata, where she accused the central government of targeting the TMC’s internal documents.
“Is this how dissent is silenced in your India?” the TMC charged, criticising the police action and the alleged misuse of central agencies.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at the I-PAC office in Kolkata, claiming that officials attempted to seize the TMC’s hard disks and sensitive data during the raids as details emerged. She described the raids as a crime and accused Amit Shah of orchestrating the seizure of party documents.
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.