Vellore: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued its raids in the early hours of Saturday at several locations associated with DMK MP Kathir Anand, including an engineering college he owns.

The searches, which began on Friday morning, have now extended beyond 24 hours and into Saturday.Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Mumbai Zonal Office, conducted extensive search operations on January 2 at 14 locations across Mumbai and Delhi in connection with a Rs 4,957 crore loan fraud case involving M/s Pratibha Industries Limited and its associates, a statement by the ED said on Saturday.The raids were carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

In an official statement, the ED revealed that the operation resulted in the freezing of bank balances and mutual funds worth Rs 5.4 crore, along with the recovery of incriminating evidence related to the acquisition of immovable properties.

The case originated from an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI (NS:CBI)) based on a complaint lodged by the Bank of Baroda (NS:BOB). The complaint alleged that M/s Pratibha Industries Limited, along with its director Ajit Kulkarni and others, orchestrated a massive bank fraud by deceiving a consortium of lenders to the tune of Rs 4,957 crore.