Chandigarh, May 27 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday launched simultaneous raids at multiple locations linked to Royal Builder and Royale Estate Group as part of a sweeping joint operation by its Chandigarh and Delhi teams. According to officials familiar with the probe, search operations targeted five to six premises across Chandigarh, Mohali and adjoining areas. Under heavy security, ED officials focused on retrieving crucial financial records, digital devices, and property transaction ledgers. The multi-city operation marks a sharp escalation in the central agency's focus on Punjab's real estate sector over alleged financial irregularities, illegal property dealings, and the systematic routing of illicit funds through shell companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The action followed ED's probe initiated based on a case registered by the Punjab Police on July 19, 2025, against the directors and associated persons of Chandigarh Royale City Promoters Pvt Ltd in connection with alleged fraud and criminal conspiracy relating to deliberate default of statutory liabilities payable to Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and submission of dishonoured cheques amounting to approximately Rs.32.67 crore in relation to a residential colony project situated at Karala village in Mohali. Officials said the searches were conducted at multiple residential premises connected to individuals, including Praveen Kansal aka Rocky, Neeraj Kansal, Daljit Singh, Anurag Midha, Liaqat Ali, and Sumit Bansal, among others. Founded by Kewal Krishan Kansal and led by directors Parveen Kansal, Neeraj Kansal, and Piyush Kansal, the Royale Estate Group is a prominent developer in the Chandigarh tricity with a substantial footprint in Zirakpur, Mohali and Panchkula. The searches at Royale Estate offices and associated premises come amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny over illegal property transactions, change of land use (CLU) violations and the diversion of buyer funds across the tricity area. The ED suspects that funds collected for the housing project were diverted through a network of associated entities and related parties. HT's multiple calls to Royal Builder and Royale Estate Group director Parveen Kansal did not elicit any response. The probe agency also flagged suspicious inter-company transactions and alleged layering of funds linked to entities associated with the Royale Estate Group. The ED's intervention is part of a broader, systemic clean-up of regional builders and colonisers who have capitalised on Mohali's rapid urban expansion while allegedly bypassing mandatory financial frameworks. Agency officials expect to analyse the documents and digital evidence seized during Tuesday's raids on Royale Estate to trace further financial trails and establish specific PMLA violations connected to this wider, regional network. The raids follow a string of ED searches in the region, most notably the recent arrest of real estate developer Ajay Sehgal, the secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society (ICHBS). Remanded to custody by the ED's Jalandhar unit, Sehgal is accused of fabricating fake farmer consent letters with forged signatures and thumbprints for 30.5 acres of land to fraudulently secure mega-project CLU approvals for the Suntec City township in Mohali....