The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, conducted searches at 15 locations across eight cities on Wednesday, in connection with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) adulterated ghee case.

The searches were carried out in Ahilyanagar, Bikaner, Dehradun, Delhi, Dindigul, Guntur, Mumbai and Roorkee, at the residential and office premises of several accused persons, including Pomil Jain, Vipin Jain, Raju Rajasekaran, Rajesh Mansukhlal Chavda, Apurva Vinaykanth Chavda, Machindra Shantaram Lanke, Ajay Kumar Sugandh, Mahesh Kumar Rohira and Ashish Agarwal.

According to the ED, cash amounting to ₹60 lakh was seized during the searches. Investigators also gathered details of investments allegedly made from proceeds of crime in properties valued at more than ₹45 crore, besides identifying several immovable properties held in the names of the accused and their family members.

Searches were also conducted at dairy plants operated by A.R. Dairy Food Pvt. Ltd., Malganga Milk & Agro Products Pvt. Ltd. and Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Pvt. Ltd. The agency said incriminating documents were recovered, indicating the use of multiple business entities to conceal and layer proceeds of crime.

The ED initiated its probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on an FIR alleging that adulterated ghee was supplied to TTD, causing wrongful loss to the temple body. Further investigation is under way.