Kolkata, April 2026 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien on Tuesday called for the \u201cimmediate and unconditional release\u201d of Vinesh Chandel, director of Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited (IPAC), who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged coal pilferage-linked money laundering case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, O\u2019Brien also demanded the withdrawal of central agencies from West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, alleging that their actions were being politically motivated. He argued that such interventions during the crucial pre-election period undermine the democratic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe demand the immediate and unconditional release of Vinesh Chandel. We also demand that central agencies be withdrawn from Bengal before the elections,\u201d O\u2019Brien said, accusing the ED of being used as a \u201cpolitical weapon.\u201d According to him, the timing of the arrest\u2014just days before polling\u2014amounted to what he described as \u201celection sabotage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ED had earlier announced that Vinesh Chandel was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, following an investigation linked to an FIR filed by the Delhi Police. Chandel, who is also the founder and a key stakeholder in IPAC, was taken into custody on Monday as part of the ongoing probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O\u2019Brien intensified his criticism by questioning the broader functioning of the ED under the PMLA framework. He alleged that the agency disproportionately targets opposition leaders, while those who join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are spared scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a sharp remark, he claimed that several opposition leaders facing corruption allegations see their cases fade away after switching political allegiance. Using a metaphor, he described it as the \u201cNirma effect,\u201d suggesting that individuals are \u201cwashed clean\u201d after joining the ruling party at the Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The TMC leader also took a swipe at the ED, mockingly referring to it as \u201cExtremely Desperate,\u201d and reiterated that its actions close to elections raise serious concerns about institutional neutrality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The developments have further escalated the political confrontation between the ruling All India Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal. With the election campaign intensifying, allegations of misuse of investigative agencies have once again become a key flashpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the state heads toward polling, such exchanges are expected to sharpen, reflecting the high-stakes nature of the electoral battle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kolkata, April 2026 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien on Tuesday called for the \u201cimmediate and unconditional release\u201d of Vinesh Chandel, director of Indian PAC Consulting Private Limited (IPAC), who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged coal pilferage-linked money laundering case. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":115085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[143],"post_format":[],"flags":[],"class_list":["post-115084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state","tag-state"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115086,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115084\/revisions\/115086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115084"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_format&post=115084"},{"taxonomy":"flags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavericknews30.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fflags&post=115084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}