The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided multiple locations in Jharkhand, excluding West Bengal, in a money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals, official sources said.
A total of 17 places in the two neighboring states are being surveyed by the Federal Investigation Agency’s Ranchi office, a day before the first phase of polling in Jharkhand.
Footage of CRPF personnel outside a hotel on Bariatu Road in Ranchi and a resort in the city was captured by press teams while ED teams searched for documents, ledgers and financial data inside.
The agency had filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in September to probe a case of alleged infiltration and trafficking of some Bangladeshi women in Jharkhand, which allegedly led to generation of so-called slush funds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have accused the state government of aiding such infiltration that led to the change in the demographic landscape of the tribal-dominated areas of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions during the recent poll campaign.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday accused the ruling JMM-led coalition of turning Jharkhand into a ‘dharmashala’ for Rohingyas and Bengali infiltrators.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced in Seraikela that a committee would be formed if the BJP comes to power in Jharkhand to identify and expel infiltrators from the state, besides reclaiming land captured by them .
The first phase of parliamentary elections is scheduled for Wednesday for 43 constituencies, while the second for 38 seats will take place on November 20.
The ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report), filed by the federal agency under various sections of the PMLA, stems from an FIR by the Jharkhand police filed at the Bariyatu police station in the capital Ranchi in June.
The police FIR, filed on the complaint of a Bangladeshi woman who allegedly entered the country along the India-Bangladesh border with the help of touts to find work, has named around six women as suspects arrested following a raid at a local restaurant. resort.
The woman who reported the incident escaped from a similar guest house and reached the police station. Police have also recovered a ‘fake’ Aadhaar card from one of these women.
Police have pressed several IPC sections in the FIR such as 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document as genuine) and 34 (general intention).
In the complaint it also has Article 12 of the Passport Act (knowingly providing false information or withholding material information with a view to obtaining a passport or travel document) and 14A of the Aliens Act (penalty for entry into a restricted area ) deleted.
The FIR quoted the female complainant as saying that they were trafficked from Bangladesh to India allegedly for prostitution by luring them in the name of getting jobs in beauty parlors.
ED sources had earlier said that the agency will probe the “entire spectrum” of infiltration from across the eastern borders, including Bangladesh, into Jharkhand, including in the tribal districts of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan.
Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a poll a few months ago, accused the Jharkhand government of encouraging the infiltration of Bangladeshi and Rohingya into vote bank politics and criticized it for “rampant corruption”.
The Prime Minister claimed that these infiltrators pose a significant threat to the state by changing the demographic landscape of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions.
Modi accused the JMM of “supporting infiltrators” and alleged that “illegal immigrants from the neighboring country have managed to gain influence over the ruling party in the state.”
He criticized the Jharkhand government for refusing to acknowledge the infiltration issue despite a Supreme Court order to set up an independent panel to probe the influx of immigrants from Bangladesh.
The Union government had informed the Jharkhand High Court that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are living in the state.
Reacting to the affidavit, JMM central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said if there was any infiltration in Jharkhand, the Union Home and Defense Ministries should take responsibility for it.
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