New Delhi, May 6 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids in over 18 locations in connection with Prevention of Money Laundering case related to illegal mining and misappropriation of MGNREGA funds in Jharkhand.

Around Rs 17 crore in cash and a few incriminating documents were recovered from a Jharkhand based CA's house.

A source said that the CA is close to IAS officer Pooja Singhal whose premises were also searched in the raid.

Raids were conducted at Ranchi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Kolkata, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa, besides several parts of NCR, including Noida, Faridabad and Gurugram.

"Hariom Tower of Ranchi's Lalpur area, Faridabad and other places are being searched. We have recovered a few incriminating documents in the raid. Residents of senior government officials are being searched by the teams," the source said.

Notably, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is also mining minister. The raids started early Friday morning and were still on.

The probe team is being assisted by the local police. It is also recording the statements of few people.

The ED is yet to release any official statement in this respect.