Ranchi: The ED has tightened the noose on 10 people including Pannalal Mahto, his wife Sunita Kumari, brother Shivshankar Ganjhu, in an alleged human trafficking case in Jharkhand.
On Friday, the ED filed a charge sheet against Pannalal and others in the Special Court of Prevention of Money Laundering. The prosecution complaint also names six agencies, which were used by Pannalal, Sunita, Shivshankar Ganjhu, Gopal Oraon for human trafficking. With this, agencies working in Delhi for smugglers have also come under the radar of ED.
The ED said in its report that during the investigation of Prevention of Money Laundering, it has come to the fore that Pannalal and his associates “were in connivance with several placement agencies of Delhi for human trafficking. Minors, girls, poor women, tribals were taken from different areas of Jharkhand with the greed of getting jobs in Delhi. There, with the help of placement agencies, everyone was employed as domestic servants in different metros, but no one was paid for the work. When the victims wanted to return to Jharkhand, Pannalal and his associates used to forcibly stop them."
These agencies had not even taken licenses from the Delhi government. According to the ED, Pannalal has admitted that he has carried out more than 5000 human trafficking incidents with the connivance of placement agencies in Delhi alone, through which Pannalal has earned more than Rs 5 crore.
After the investigation, the ED has so far attached assets worth 3.36 crores. The seized property is in the name of Pannalal, Sunita Kumari, Shivkumar Ganjhu, and others. It has come to the fore in the investigation that four plots were taken in the Agora area and Khunti of Ranchi with the money of human trafficking.
Apart from this, Rs 17.71 lakh was seized from bank accounts. At the same time, the Fortuner vehicle has also been seized by the ED. Later, Pannalal Mahto was arrested from Khunti on 19 July 2019. After the arrest, a case was registered against Pannalal at the AHTU police station on the same day. This case was later taken over by the NIA on the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The NIA had filed a charge sheet against Pannalal and his associates under IPC and Inter-State Migrant Women Act and Juvenile Justice Act.
Based on the NIA's charge sheet in the human trafficking case, the ED had registered a separate money laundering case in the entire case. These agencies are involved in human trafficking- Birsa Bhagwan Placement Bureau, Director Shiv Shankar Ganjhu. Birsa Security and Placement Director Shiv Shankar Ganjhu,
Laxmi Placement Service, Director Gopal Oraon, Birsa Bhagwan Tribal Welfare Society, Director, and President Pannalal Mahto, Secure Luck Consultancy Private Limited, Director & Director Pannalal Mahato and Pahal Security Services Private Limited, Director Pannalal Mahato and Sunita Kumari
