Cryptocurrency case : ED raids premises in Mandi, Nagrota
Shimla, Dec 13,
The Enforcement Directorate has stepped up its investigation into an alleged cryptocurrency-linked money laundering network in Himachal Pradesh, conducting a fresh search operation in Sundernagar town of Mandi district early Saturday.
According to sources familiar with the operation, a team of ED officials carried out a raid at around 6 am at the residence of Ravikant, a local transport operator, in the BSL Colony police station jurisdiction. The search forms part of a wider probe into suspected cryptocurrency investments and the movement of illicit funds.
Ravikant is reportedly engaged in the school transport business and owns buses operating for a private educational institution in Sundernagar. Investigators are examining his financial dealings, bank transactions and any possible financial or operational links with individuals and entities already under the agency’s scanner.
Saturday’s action follows coordinated ED searches conducted a day earlier at multiple locations in Sundernagar and Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra district. Those operations targeted individuals suspected to have connections with cryptocurrency-related activities and certain pharmaceutical firms. The investigation is being pursued under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The current ED probe has its roots in an earlier case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which had uncovered an alleged international investment fraud involving cryptocurrency schemes. The racket is accused of cheating a large number of investors, including serving police personnel, by promising unusually high returns. The proceeds are suspected to have been diverted through hawala channels and layered across multiple accounts.
ED officials were still conducting searches in Sundernagar at the time this report was filed. The agency has not yet issued an official statement regarding any seizures, recoveries, or further action arising out of the operation.
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