ED raids multiple locations in Bengal over hawala case with Jharkhand links

Kolkata: The officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are conducting raids at multiple locations in West Bengal since Tuesday morning.

The raids are being conducted in connection with a case registered in neighbouring Jharkhand in relation to a major hawala scam.

Among the places in West Bengal where the central agency officials are conducting raid and search operations are Madhyamgram, Barrackpore and Bangaon, all in North 24 Parganas district.

Sources said that in this particular hawala scam, besides Jharkhand there was the involvement of neighbouring Bangladesh as well.

Sources added that ED raids are being conducted in at least 12 locations in districts adjoining the state-capital of Kolkata.

Each ED team is being escorted by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel.

The raids started with the residence of a local woman at Madhyamgram against whom a case was registered at Ranchi.

Sources said that the woman concerned got some women from neighbouring Bangladesh illegally immigrated to West Bengal after luring them with promises of employment and then got them involved in the inter-state hawala racket, mainly involving West Bengal and Jharkhand.

These Bangladeshi women were also provided with fake documents like Aadhaar cards with Hindu names.

Investigations are on to track the Bangladeshi links of the woman at whose residence in Madhyamgram the central agency officials conducted raid and search operations on Tuesday morning.

A couple of those Bangladeshi women, sources added, managed to escape to Ranchi and filed a complaint at a local police station there.

Since “hawala trading” comes under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED suo motu took up the matter after filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).

Preliminary investigation has revealed that a portion of the money routed through the hawala passage was also invested in the transport business.

It is not yet clear what the exact amount involved in the scam is.