The Income Tax (I-T) department’s nearly 72 hour-long raids at the flat of the Trinamul Congress leader Swarup Biswas, who is also a brother of senior minister Aroop Biswas at New Alipore since Wednesday morning was a “game plan of BJP’s political vendetta, ahead of the Lok Sabha (LS) elections”.

The IT officials on Saturday left Swarup’s flat after prolonged investigation there since Wednesday.

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While speaking to reporters soon after the officials left, Trinamul Congress leader Swarup Biswas and husband of councillor-cum-borough chairman Jui Biswas, said, “The I-T raid at my residence was a game plan of political vendetta of BJP ahead of the LS polls. But I will cooperate fully with the IT officials.”

“They did not inform us anything about the reasons behind the raid. All of us in my family have cooperated with the officials. They did not even seize anything like ornaments, cash or documents from my flat,” he claimed.

“The BJP leadership is engaging central agencies against us, who are Trinamul Congress workers but we won’t be cowed down by them,” he added.

I-T sources said that Swarup had been asked to appear before the investigating officers with necessary documents within 15 days.

“BJP, in order to make its political vendetta successful, is using central agencies against opposition leaders across the country ahead of the LS election. It’s a political game plan of the BJP to spread panic among oppositions,” Jui alleged.

The investigating I-T officials have also spoken to her also during the raid.

Central agencies Enforcement Directorate (ED) and I-T intensified their raids in different parts of the city. The I-T team conducted investigations at Swarup’s flat to investigate his alleged involvement in alleged tax evasion by two big real estate companies in the city.

According to I-T sources, “The raids are being carried out for alleged ‘tax evasion and possession of disproportionate assets’ allegedly by the ruling party leader.

He had alleged links with some real estate developers from where funds were transferred to his account violating I-T rules, sources said.

Central forces had been deployed at his residential premises since Wednesday since the raids were continued.

On the other hand, ED probing the state school services recruitment scam also conducted raids simultaneously at six places in the city and Bolpur in Birbhum district on Friday.