A designated court in Ranchi has granted five-day police custody to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question Panna Lal Mahto who is accused of trafficking 5,000 people across multiple States in the garb of a placement agency.
The accused Panna Lal Mahto alias Ganjhu, a resident of Khunti district of Jharkhand and is accused in multiple cases registered against him in Khunti, Ranchi and Delhi under various Sections of Indian Penal Code for the offences of kidnapping and trafficking among others, the ED said in a statement.
Mahto was arrested twice by Khunti Police in 2006 and 2015, but walked out of jail on bail. He had networks in Delhi, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, it said.
In Delhi, he used to operate an agency in the name of Panna Lal Placement Agency. It is estimated that Mahto trafficked not less than 5,000 people. Recently, he was lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail, Ranchi and presently continuing judicial custody in an NIA’s case of human trafficking, it said.
The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIRs registered by Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), Khunti Police, Jharkhand against Mahto and others for the offences of human trafficking.
Money laundering investigation by ED has revealed that Mahto has amassed huge property in Jharkhand, Delhi and other States from the activities related to illegal human trafficking, the agency said.
During the investigation conducted under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), various immovable properties in the form of land in Ranchi and Khunti districts have been identified to have been acquired by Mahto out of the proceeds of crime.
Mahto and his accomplices are also operating various bank accounts having number of high value transactions, which appear to have been
acquired and transacted out of proceeds of crime, it said, adding further investigation is under progress.