Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against Jharkhand-based human trafficking accused Pannalal Mahato as well as his wife Sunita Kumari and brother Shivshankar Ganjhu in the special court for the prevention of money laundering. The agency said in its report that during an ongoing money-laundering probe, it recently had come to light that Mahato and his associates had been involved in human trafficking by using several placement agencies in Delhi.
As per the chargesheet, minors, poor women and tribals were among those taken from various areas in Jharkhand on the pretext of landing them jobs in Delhi. The agency noted that Mahato has admitted having carried out more than 5,000 traffickings, for which he earned Rs 5 crore. So far, the ED has found assets worth Rs 3.36 crore.
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The chargesheet further detailed the modus operandi for the group that set up those trafficked with jobs as domestic helps in various metro cities through placement companies. The victims, however, were not paid for their work. Upon the workers wanting to return to Jharkhand, they were stopped from doing so. It has been discovered that the Delhi-based placement agencies did not have any government license for their work.
The ED chargesheet has been filed based on an earlier chargesheet by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under sections of the IPC, Inter State Migrant Women Act and Juvenile Justice Act. Apart from human trafficking, the ED has also filed a separate case against Mahato and his company for money laundering.
