New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS): Kashmir including the premises of former J&K Finance Minister and senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather's son Hilal Ahmed Rather in its probe into the Rs 177 crore J&K Bank loan fraud case.

A top ED official said that the agency is conducting searches at 17 locations in Punjab's Ludhiana, Delhi and in Jammu & Kashmir in connection with the case.

The official said that the residence of Hilal Ahmed Rather is also being searched. The ED has registered a case of money laundering on the basis of a CBI FIR. The CBI had registered the case on March 4.

Rather was arrested by the anti-corruption branch of the J&K Police on January 16 this year.

The CBI had named Rather and two others in a chargesheet filed before the court on March 14 in connection with the fraudulent withdrawals. During investigation, the CBI found that Rather had entered into a criminal conspiracy with J&K Bank officials to get a Rs 177.68 crore loan sanctioned in violation of the rules and guidelines.

The loan sanctioned for building flats was allegedly misappropriated by the accused using the bank accounts of his employees. Rather also submitted forged certificates and bills to the bank. The account was classified as a non-performing asset on December 31, 2017. The bank officials didn't verify the documents submitted by Rather and also helped in siphoning off and laundering the money.

Rather's partners in the firm -- Rizwan Raheem Dar, Ghulam Mohd Bhatt, Daljeet Wadhera and Deepshikha Jamwal -- are also being probed by the agency.