Nagpur: Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams on Tuesday launched simultaneous raids at the office, shops and residence of online international gaming bookie, Sontu Jain, and his associates in Gondia, along with a parallel search operation at the house of a hawala operator in city’s Shanti Nagar. Sontu was earlier named in a big online gaming fraud case involving multi-crore losses to investors through international platforms.Searches continued in Nagpur till late Tuesday at the premises of the money-transfer operator linked to the same bookie cartel.Officials said the action forms part of a money-laundering probe into proceeds generated from illegal online gaming and betting activities. Documents, digital devices and other materials were examined during searches at some locations. Details of seizures and further action are awaited.The Nagpur search caused panic among the local money-transfer trading community, with several operators expressing unease over the sudden ED presence in Shanti Nagar.Sontu had been associated with gaming platforms that police had linked to large-scale online frauds. The ED action indicates a fresh focus on financial trails and hawala channels allegedly used to move funds. The investigators are expected to examine seized material for possible violations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
