The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided 17 locations in Jharkhand, where the first phase of Assembly elections are scheduled on Wednesday, and Bengal in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the alleged infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals.

Forty-three constituencies in Jharkhand are slated to vote on Wednesday. The second phase of polls is scheduled on November 20 when the remaining 38 constituencies will vote.

In a statement issued on its official X handle, the ED said it had recovered “incriminating” items such as fake Aadhaar cards, forged passports, illegal arms, immovable property documents, cash, jewellery, printing papers and machines and blank proformasused for forging Aadhaar.

The search operation sparked outrage among leaders of the JMM, which heads the coalition government in Jharkhand along with the Congress and the RJD.

“Just before the first phase of election we are witnessing the ED, which has become a BJP election tool, in action yet again in the state. It is part of the effort of the BJP to create headlines and perceptions among the masses. But they should realise that people have already made up their minds,” said JMM central general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya.

Ranchi-based JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey termed the raids an act of “desperation” by the BJP.

“It is an act of frustration and desperation by the BJP, which is unable to accept the fact that they are heading for defeat in the Assembly polls and are forcing the federal agencies like the ED and the IT department to conduct raids and searches before the polls,” Pandey said.

The ED conducted searches at six locations in Ranchi and Pakur districts of Jharkhand. Hotel Skyline, Ashvi Diagnosis, Bali Resort and Mountain View Resort were among the premises raided.

The central agency hasso far not revealed the places in Bengal where raids were conducted.

The ED had in September filed a case under the Prevention of Money LaunderingAct to probe the alleged trafficking of some Bangladeshi women into Jharkhand and the subsequent generation of black money.

The ED’s FIR is based on a Jharkhand police FIR registered at Bariatu police station in Ranchi in June.

The ED raid at Pakur in Jharkhand on Tuesday. Picture by Shabbir Hussain

The police had registered the FIR on the complaint of a woman who had claimed she entered India from Bangladesh with the help of brokers in search of work. She claimed she was brought for prostitution on the pretext of a job at a beauty salon. Five to six women who were arrested during a raid at a local resort were named as accused in this case.

Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, the BJP made Bangladeshi infiltration its main poll plank in Jharkhand.

The JMM and the Congress have challenged the BJP to explain how the alleged infiltration was taking place as protecting the international borders is the Centre’s responsibility. They have also accused the BJP of playing divisive politics by stoking tension before the polls.

The BJP is in power in Assam which, along with Bengal, witnesses the highest illegal immigration from Bangladesh.

The Union home ministry is in charge of guarding the country’s borders. The BSF, which reports to the home ministry, is deployed along the 4,096km international border with Bangladesh that runs through Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had recently hit out at Shah by alleging that infiltration from Bangladesh took place through BJP-ruled states and asked on what basis the Centre had given asylum to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.