The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted searches at several places in the country including Jammu residence of businessman Rakesh Choudhary in connection with certain irregularities in toll collection at National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) toll plazasIn Jammu, the ED team searched the house of Rakesh Choudhary at Gandhi Nagar and office at Trikuta Nagar simultaneously.
The searches continued for couple of hours and the raiding parties examined certain documents and electronic gadgets in connection with the irregularities.
Officials said the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches in multiple states as part of a money laundering investigation linked to "fraudulent" toll collection at various NHAI plazas.
They said about 14 premises in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and West Bengal were brought under the searches.
The action was launched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the central agency took cognizance of two police FIRs.
The FIRs alleged use of unauthorized software applications for generating toll receipts and "diversion" of toll collections outside the official accounting mechanism.
Forensic examination and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) records have corroborated deployment of such software, the officials said.
The searches aim at recovering digital and documentary evidence, identifying beneficiaries and tracing proceeds of crime, they said.The agency is checking how the money collected through the alleged system was handled and whether it was kept outside NHAI's official accounts.
Details of what has been seized during the searches have not yet been officially released.
The ED is expected to take further action after examining the documents and digital records recovered during the searches. The agency is also trying to find out the total amount involved and identify others connected with the alleged toll collection fraud.
Further details are expected after the searches are completed and the ED releases more information about the case.
