Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a massive operation across West Bengal on Friday morning. The agency targeted those behind a human trafficking racket ED raids in Bengal case to uncover a wide trafficking network across several districts.
ED officials raided six different locations across Bengal. Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel provided security during the searches. They visited the home of a civil engineer in South Dum Dum and a businessman in Salt Lake. The businessman owns several bar-cum-restaurants suspected of running illegal trafficking activities.
Investigators believe the businessman is the mastermind. They say he used his restaurants as a front for trafficking and exploitation.
ED teams also searched two other businessmen’s homes in Salt Lake and one more suspect’s house in Siliguri, Darjeeling district. These simultaneous raids helped trace money trails and identify key members of the racket.
The investigation started after Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police filed several FIRs against the network’s leaders. Later, ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to follow the money trail.
Officials revealed that traffickers lured vulnerable women with fake job offers. They forced them into prostitution and earned huge illegal profits. The group later laundered the money through shell companies to hide its origin.
Through the human trafficking racket ED raids in Bengal, the agency aims to expose hidden financial links and those shielding the network. This crackdown marks one of ED’s most powerful anti-trafficking operations in recent months.
–IANS
