The Enforcement Directorate raided 17 locations in Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with a money laundering investigation related to alleged illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.

ED is conducting searches at 17 places in Jharkhand and West Bengal. The Enforcement Directorate today raided 17 locations in Jharkhand and West Bengal for alleged links with Bangladeshi money laundering funds said to have entered India illegally. This was a follow-up to a comprehensive investigation into money laundering allegedly originating from such funds. ED has been trying to unearth illegal operations related to human trafficking and generation of proceeds of crime.

According to reports, the raids were conducted in several election-bound districts of Jharkhand and some places in neighboring West Bengal. The operation is part of an ongoing investigation into a case related to the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals, particularly women, into the Indian mainland, allegedly for the purposes of trafficking and forced labour. The ED initiated the case under the PMLA after an investigation into human trafficking activities where slush funds were created.

The case came to the fore in September 2024 when the Enforcement Directorate filed a formal case to investigate the infiltration and trafficking of women from Bangladesh into Jharkhand. The complaint filed in June 2024 by a Bangladeshi woman in Ranchi is under investigation. She, according to a complaint filed by her in June 2024, had been trafficked from Bangladesh to India with the help of sellers through the India-Bangladesh border.

Allegations of trafficking and fraud

Accordingly, the woman implicated several people for trafficking women, including herself in India, under false pretenses. Among the six women listed as suspects were several who were arrested after a local resort was raided. The victim reportedly managed to escape from one such hostel and then migrated to a police station. When the police during the investigation questioned them, they found that one of the women was carrying a fake Aadhaar card.

In the statement of complaint, it was revealed that the women were trafficked to India under the guise of jobs, but were turned into prostitution on arrival. This is the desperate case of a wider problem of human trafficking and the cross-border exploitation of vulnerable people.

ED extends the probe to the general region

This investigation by the Traffic Enforcement Directorate is not limited to this case alone but is probing a larger scheme of illegal infiltration across the borders, particularly in the Santhal Pargana and Kolhan tribal districts of Jharkhand. According to the ED, the investigation will cover the entire scope of infiltration activities in the Bangladeshi region, which is said to experience the worst impact of such illicit networks.

BJP blames Jharkhand government

The political overtones of these raids were huge as allegations were leveled against the Jharkhand government. Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have publicly called out the Jharkhand government for helping illegals enter India and argued that this has demographic implications in the Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions, dominated by tribes, where many expect this. the influx would change the local socio-political structure.

chief minister Yogi Adityanath followed suit, accusing the Rohingya refugees and the coalition welcoming Bangladeshi infiltrators led by the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of turning the state into a “dharmashala”. This is part of a larger campaign by the BJP against the state government ahead of next month’s assembly elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that if the BJP government comes to power in Jharkhand, a committee will be formed to identify and streamline the elimination of infiltrators from the state. The commission will also pay attention to reclaiming land said to be occupied by these illegal immigrants.

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