The zonal office of enforcement directorate (ED) in Patna today took possession of a multi-storied house and other assets of Suresh Nat, who allegedly used to abduct girls and forced them into prostitution.

Suresh has been charged with the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, against whom the ED has taken action under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. So far, the directorate had been dealing with people charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"We had accepted this case promptly, when the police's economic offences unit (EOU) had forwarded it to us in 2013. Suresh is a notorious kingpin of a sex racket in which young girls were abducted, forced into prostitution and sold. He has no known source of income but amassed movable and immovable assets, which we have now taken possession under the PMLA as proceeds of crime," an ED official said.

Though documented value of the property of Suresh is just Rs 28 lakh, including houses at Purnea and Begusarai, land at Sitamarhi, and around Rs 3 lakh deposits in banks, sources in the ED said their market value might run into a few crores.

The man catapulted into limelight when a girl from Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh, whom he had abducted, brought to Begusarai in Bihar and forced into prostitution, escaped from his clutches and contacted the police.

Suresh was arrested and cases were subsequently lodged against him, with his wife and mother as co-accused. The matter was handed over to the ED to probe the money laundering aspect.

An ED team on Thursday went to Bakhri in Begusarai district and sealed Suresh's house in which he and his family lived.

It took help from the local police and administration as Suresh and his family members, who are presently out on bail, had threatened them on previous occasions. The entire family was evicted from the house while it was sealed. The ED team also found an overhead plastic water tank on the roof of the house with "Unicef, not for sale" written on it, and wondered how assets of Unicef could found their way in Suresh's house.

The ED has also filed a chargesheet in the court of designated PMLA judge in Patna and will now move for punishment for him under the PMLA provisions, which entails seven years of imprisonment. The cases filed against him by the police will continue separately.