The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Lucknow Zonal Workplace, searched 14 premises throughout Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jammu, Madhya Pradesh, the Nationwide Capital Area (NCR) and Kolkata on Wednesday, in a money-laundering probe. The investigation entails alleged fraudulent toll assortment at a number of Nationwide Highways Authority of India (NHAI) toll plazas, confirmed senior ED officers, whereas sharing particulars right here in Lucknow.
A senior ED official mentioned the searches, carried out below Part 17 of the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, are aimed toward unearthing the monetary and digital path of the alleged fraud, figuring out beneficiaries and tracing suspected proceeds of crime.
He mentioned the company’s investigation has allegedly uncovered an organised mechanism designed to bypass the prescribed digital toll-collection and accounting system at recognized toll plazas.
In response to the ED, unauthorised software program functions named “Mobdata” and “Any” had been allegedly developed and deployed to generate and handle toll receipts exterior the authorised system. The functions had been allegedly used to file car entries and generate receipts, whereas the corresponding collections had been saved exterior NHAI’s official accounting mechanism.
The investigation has additionally revealed alleged sharing of software program credentials, portals and transaction-related data amongst individuals managing toll operations, officers mentioned.
Digital forensic examination of units seized in the course of the probe has recognized quite a few toll-wise portals, credentials, transaction data and communications allegedly linked to the operation of the unauthorised system. Investigators are inspecting these digital trails to determine who operated the functions, how collections had been routed and who in the end benefited.
The ED mentioned forensic examination of digital techniques, coupled with data obtained from NHAI, has corroborated the alleged deployment of unauthorised software program at toll plazas. The findings have prompted the company to widen its investigation past particular person toll factors and study the broader community allegedly concerned within the assortment and diversion of toll income.
The case originates from an FIR registered on January 22, 2025. The ED’s Ahmedabad sub-zonal workplace subsequently registered an Enforcement Case Info Report (ECIR) on Might 19, 2025. The company has not disclosed the names of the premises or individuals/entities searched, or the entire quantity of toll income allegedly diverted. The investigation is constant.
