The Enforcement Directorate of India on Tuesday raided several locations in Jharkhand near polling stations outside West Bengal as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged illegal infiltration of nationals Bangladeshi.

A total of 17 places are being raided in the two neighboring states by the Jharkhand office of the federal investigation agency.

The Jharkhand assembly elections are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, November 13 with the first round of voting. The next phase will take place on November 20. By-elections for six Bengal Assembly seats are also scheduled for tomorrow.

In September, the agency filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe the infiltration and trafficking of some Bangladeshi women in Jharkhand, which resulted in the production of black money claimed.

The case was filed following the complaint of a lady who allegedly sneaked into the country from the India-Bangladesh border with the help of touts to find work and listed around five to six women as culprits who were apprehended during a raid on an establishment. local station.

The woman who filed the complaint escaped from a similar establishment and presented herself at the police station. One of these ladies was also in possession of a “fake” Aadhaar card.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have accused the state government of contributing to such infiltration leading to a change in the demographic landscape of the tribal-dominated areas of Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions during the recent election campaign.

The High Court’s decision to form an impartial committee to look into the flow of Bangladeshi immigrants was criticized by Modi for the Jharkhand government’s refusal to accept the problem of infiltration.

The first phase of Assembly polls is scheduled for Wednesday for 43 constituencies, while the second, for 38 seats, will be held on November 20.

The ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) filed by the federal agency under various sections of the PMLA stems from a Jharkhand Police FIR lodged at Bariyatu police station in the capital of the State, Ranchi, in June.