Bangladeshi Infiltration Case: 3 Arrested After ED Raids In Jharkhand, Bengal

ED conducts raids in Jharkhand and West Bengal (Screengrabs/PTI)

Incriminating items including fake Aadhaar cards, forged passports, illegal arms, immovable property documents, cash, jewellery, printing papers, printing machines, and blank proformas used for forging Aadhaar were recovered following the raids, the agency said.

According to news agency PTI, a total of 17 places were raided across the two states.

BANGLADESHI INFILTRATION CASE

In September this year, the Enforcement Directorate filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe an instance of alleged infiltration and trafficking of some Bangladeshi women into Jharkhand leading to the generation of alleged slush funds.

Before that, in June, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by the Jharkhand Police in Ranchi, on the complaint of a Bangladeshi woman who allegedly infiltrated into the country from along the India-Bangladesh border with the help of touts to find work.

In her complaint, she named around six women as accused who were arrested following a raid at a local resort.

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

The police pressed multiple IPC sections like 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.

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

The FIR quoted the woman complainant saying they were trafficked into India from Bangladesh allegedly for prostitution by luring them in the name of getting a job in beauty salons.

ED sources had earlier said the agency will investigate the “entire gamut" of infiltration from across the eastern borders, including Bangladesh, into Jharkhand including in the tribal districts of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan, PTI reported.

PM MODI ACCUSED JHARKHAND GOVERNMENT OF AIDING INFILTRATION

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have accused the Jharkhand government of aiding such infiltration leading to the altering of the demographic landscape of the tribal-dominated areas of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions during the recent poll campaign.

On November 11, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition of converting Jharkhand into a ‘dharmashala’ for Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators.