The CBI carried out raids and searches on Thursday at three Calcutta homes of businessman and Trinamul Congress youth wing leader Vinay Mishra in connection with the cattle smuggling scam that the central agency has been probing for a while.

Mishra was not at any of his three residences — at Rakhal Das Auddy Road in Alipore, Rashbehari and Patipukur in Lake Town — but pen drives, laptops and documents were seized, said a CBI officer.

He is believed to be in the Gulf, the CBI officer said.

“His family was given a notice asking for his appearance at the CBI headquarters in Calcutta on January 4,” said a source, adding a lookout notice was issued in his name and hence the CBI would be alerted by immigration authorities the moment Mishra tries to enter or exit India. CBI sources also said the home ministry “activated” its channels in the Gulf for news of his whereabouts.

Trinamul dubbed the raids politically motivated. BJP’s Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya in one of his tweets on Thursday called Mishra a “power broker” and sought to link the CBI raids to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek.