Mumbai, Oct. 20 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen trading accounts worth Rs.200 crore linked to alleged beneficiaries of a Rs.600-crore share price manipulation case involving two listed companies, in which over one lakh retail investors allegedly suffered losses after the stocks crashed. The agency' s Mumbai unit conducted searches at 29 locations across six cities on Friday. The raids covered Mumbai and Nashik in Maharashtra, and Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat and Bhavnagar in Gujarat. Among the premises searched were the offices of RM Drip and Sprinklers Systems Ltd and R&B Denims Ltd, whose share prices were allegedly manipulated. The ED also searched the residences of the companies' promoters and people who allegedly received shares at low prices, besides offices of stockbroking and finance firms and premises of suspected operators of promotional WhatsApp groups. The frozen trading accounts allegedly belong to people and entities connected to those who benefited from the manipulation, ED officials said. Investigators also seized documents, digital devices, share transaction records and property papers. The agency is examining the role of a market manipulator who had earlier been under its scanner in a separate case involving alleged illegal or unethical trading, officials said. HT could not reach the two companies' officials for comment. The ED's searches revealed a network of suspected beneficiaries, including people linked to jewellery and consultancy firms, sources said. These beneficiaries acquired shares at low prices through preferential allotments and warrants before their prices were driven up through promotional messages circulated on WhatsApp, X, SMS and other channels. The alleged manipulation is also under the scanner of the SEBI, which conducted searches a few months ago. The ED's money laundering probe stems from two police cases. Investigators found that the two companies allegedly issued more than 3.5 crore shares and convertible warrants to select individuals and entities between April 2023 and March 2024. The share prices were subsequently pushed up over several months. The alleged scheme gathered momentum between late December 2025 and February 2026, when retail investors were advised to buy the shares through WhatsApp communities operated from Bhavnagar. On February 25, the WhatsApp groups were allegedly deleted. The two stocks then lost around 70% of their value within days, leaving investors with losses estimated at Rs.600 crore....