ED files money laundering case to probe Bangladeshi infiltration into Jharkhand

Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate has lodged a money laundering case to probe an instance of suspected infiltration and trafficking of some Bangladeshi women into Jharkhand that led to the generation of alleged slush funds.

The ECIR (enforcement case information report) filed by the federal agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) stems from a Jharkhand Police FIR lodged at the Bariyatu police station in the state capital of Ranchi in June.

An ECIR is the ED's equivalent of a police complaint.

The police FIR, filed on the complaint of a woman who allegedly infiltrated into the country from across the India-Bangladesh border with the help of touts to find work, had named some five to six women as accused who were arrested following a raid at a local resort.

The woman who filed the complaint had escaped a similar facility and reached the police station. The police also recovered a "fake" Aadhaar card from one of these women.

The police pressed multiple IPC sections such as 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 34 (common intention) in the FIR.

It also slapped section 12 of the Passport Act (knowingly furnishing any false information or suppressing any material information with a view to obtaining a passport or travel document) and 14A of the Foreigners Act (penalty for entry in restricted area) in the complaint.

The police FIR quoted the woman complainant as saying that they were trafficked into India from Bangladesh allegedly for prostitution by luring them with the promise of jobs in beauty salons.

Sources said the ED would investigate the "entire gamut" of infiltration from across the eastern borders, including Bangladesh, into Jharkhand as well as the tribal regions of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan divisions.

The touts and human trafficking ring leaders involved in this illegal trade and forgery of documents would be investigated and the ED would probe if they generated slush funds for money laundering through this act, the sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accused the ruling JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand of encouraging Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltration for vote bank politics.

He asserted that these infiltrators pose a significant threat to the state by altering the demographic landscape of Santhal Parganas and Kolhan regions.

Modi criticised the Jharkhand government for refusing to acknowledge the infiltration issue despite a High Court order to establish an independent panel to investigate the influx of Bangladeshi immigrants.

The Union government had recently informed the Jharkhand High Court that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are living in the state.

Reacting to this affidavit, JMM central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya had said that if there was infiltration in Jharkhand, the Union Home and Defence ministries should take responsibility for this.