LUCKNOW, Sept. 3 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at 14 premises across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, the National Capital Region and West Bengal as part of a money-laundering investigation into alleged fraudulent toll collection at National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) toll plazas. A Lucknow zonal ED official said the searches, conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, are aimed at unearthing the financial and digital trail of the alleged fraud, identifying beneficiaries and tracing suspected proceeds of crime, officials added. He said the agency's investigation has allegedly uncovered an organised mechanism designed to bypass the prescribed electronic toll-collection and accounting system at identified toll plazas. The investigation stems from a case registered in January 22, 2025. The ED's Ahmedabad Sub-Zonal Office filed an Enforcement Case Information Report in the matter on May 19, 2025. According to ED, unauthorised software applications named "Mobdata" and "Any" were used to generate toll receipts outside the authorised system. Such receipts allegedly enabled toll collections to be diverted without being reflected in the official accounting mechanism. The agency said forensic examination of digital systems, along with records obtained from NHAI, corroborated the deployment of such software. The findings prompted the ED to widen its probe beyond the functioning of individual toll plazas to trace the broader network allegedly involved in the diversion of toll revenues. Digital forensic examination of devices seized has identified numerous toll-wise portals, credentials, transaction records and communications allegedly linked to the operation of the unauthorised system. Investigators are examining digital trails to establish the alleged operators, how the collections were routed and the beneficiaries. The agency said forensic examination of digital systems, coupled with records obtained from NHAI, corroborated the alleged deployment of unauthorised software at toll plazas....