The Enforcement Directorate (ED) executed coordinated search operations across 14 premises spanning seven states and union territories as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation into alleged financial irregularities within National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) toll plaza collections, according to ED sources cited by The Hindu.
The early morning raids targeted locations in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, and West Bengal. Investigators seized digital devices, financial ledgers, and property documents from the residential and office addresses associated with entities handling highway revenue collection.
The financial probe centers on allegations of systematic revenue diversion, tax evasion, and fraudulent reporting of daily vehicle traffic passing through specific highway stretches managed under NHAI concessions. Unnamed ED officials cited in the investigation report stated that the search operations were initiated following intelligence inputs regarding discrepancy patterns in toll accounting.
Despite the extensive geographic reach of the raids, official identification of the targets remains restricted. The specific names of the private contractors or NHAI officials under investigation have not been publicly disclosed by the ED, pending the forensic analysis of data seized during the multi-state operation.
This enforcement action follows a series of similar probes into infrastructure project financing and toll collection irregularities conducted by the ED over the last 24 months, marking an escalation in federal scrutiny over public-private partnership contracts in the highway sector.
Private infrastructure firms operating NHAI toll plazas face potential contract termination and severe financial penalties if the allegations of revenue diversion are proven during the judicial proceedings. The federal agency is slated to examine bank transaction records obtained during the searches against electronic toll collection logs maintained by national payment gateways.
