Kolkata: ED arrests four in connection with money laundering and illegal infiltration

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested four persons, including two Bangladeshi nationals, in the last 24 hours in connection with money laundering and illegal Bangladeshi infiltration cases for facilitating illegal infiltration and human trafficking in India.

All of them have been arrested in Calcutta and ED is taking judicial custody to take them to Ranchi in Jharkhand.

The two arrested Bangladeshi nationals were Rony Mondal and Sameer Chowdhary, while two Indian nationals were Pintu Haldar and Pinki Basu Mukherjee in connection with the Bangladeshi infiltration case for facilitating illegal infiltration and human trafficking in India. While Mondal, Chowdhary and Halder were arrested on Tuesday, Basu was arrested on Tuesday.
According to an ED statement on Wednesday evening, among the four arrested, two are Indian nationals and the other two are Bangladeshi nationals.
“All of them have been arrested in Calcutta and ED is taking transit remand to take them all to Ranchi, Jharkhand. These arrests were made by ED after extensive searches conducted at 17 locations under PMLA, 2002, in Jharkhand and West Bengal,” the ED statement said.The arrests were made by ED after extensive searches at 17 locations under PMLA, 2002, in Jharkhand and West Bengal, people in the know said.
“During the searches, several incriminating items including fake Aadhaars, forged passports, illegal weapons, real estate documents, cash, jewellery, printing papers, printing machines and blank proformas used for forging Aadhaar were recovered,” the statement said. ED. The central agency initiated an investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Jharkhand police under various sections of IPC 1860, Passports Act 1967 and Foreigners Act, 1946. According to the FIR, certain Bengali girls illegally crossed the Indo-Bangladesh border in collaboration with certain private agents to undertake illegal and immoral activities in India, the ED statement said. The case is related to illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi citizens into India with the help of agents who provide them with fake documents proving Indian citizenship, ED said.
Primary investigation by ED has revealed that a syndicate is operating extensively in West Bengal and Jharkhand and is engaged in facilitating proceeds of crime from the above activities. This is confirmed by the seizure of mobile phones containing several incriminating chats related to monetary transactions in lieu of the above-mentioned illegal activities, including prostitution, by these girls, people in the know said.

During the searches, documents containing a detailed list of payments made to replace the prostitution racket run by the above-mentioned syndicate were also recovered, sources said.

On Tuesday, ED officials, accompanied by Central Armed Forces (CAPF) personnel, conducted marathon raids and search operations at 12 locations in West Bengal.