The ED conducted search operations at half a dozen premises, including offices and residential properties, in Mumbai and Delhi and a farmhouse in Maharashtra in connection with the illegal receipt of foreign exchange from Dubai and Singapore by Mega Millennium Private Limited, an official said on Friday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted the searches under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the official said in a statement.

Apart from inspecting digital devices and incriminating documents related to Mega Millennium Private Limited, the investigators also conducted searches at a farmhouse in Karjat, Maharashtra, the ED said.

Foreign currency, Indian currency and valuables worth several crores of rupees were also detected by the ED during the search operation, said an official.

The focus of the ED’s search operation was on Harish Dedhiya, a Mumbai-based consultant and director of the company, the statement said.

The company and its directors, including Dedhiya and his wife Dhara Dedhiya, have received large sums of foreign exchange from suspicious companies based in Dubai and Singapore, the ED said.

The ED investigation indicated that Dedhiya incorporated companies by appointing his own employees/dummies as Directors. Within a year of incorporation, these companies received hundreds of crores of rupees, which were layered through multiple shell entities, the ED said.

In a separate case in Maharashtra, the ED conducted search operations at 10 premises, including hospital/IVF centres, located in Thane, Baramati and Nashik and seized digital evidence and Rs 29 lakh in cash during the investigation in a human egg extraction racket, an official said.

The ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-II conducted search operations on October 16 at the10 premises under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The ED investigation was initiated based on an FIR and a subsequent chargesheet filed by Badlapur (East) Police Station, Thane, Maharashtra, alleging offences of cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and violations of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, by Manjusha Wankhede and 16 others, the ED said in a statement.

The case pertains to an organised network involved in recruiting financially vulnerable women for human egg donation and supplying them to various IVF centres and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) banks through donor-supply agents operating under different proprietorship concerns, the agency said.

Polling for five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, comprising three graduate and two teacher constituencies, is currently underway on Friday with 182 candidates in the fray, and their political futures sealed in ballot boxes across 2,419 polling stations.

The counting is scheduled for October 27. The polling, which started at 8 a.m. and will continue till 4 p.m., is taking place in the Pune Teachers and Pune Graduate constituencies; Amravati Teacher Constituency; Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduate Constituencies, where the rebels have made the elections tough for both the ruling Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Union Minister of State Murlidhar Mohol cast his vote at Dindayal Upadhyaya School in Kothrud, Pune. Speaking to reporters after exercising his franchise, Mohol expressed firm confidence that the ruling Mahayuti coalition will secure victories across all five constituencies.

Mohol stated that graduate and teacher voters are educated and analytical. He noted that voters evaluate national progress, global developments, and the accelerated pace of state development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister/Deputy CMs leadership before casting their ballots.

Addressing comparisons with cooperative body elections (such as Gokul), Mohol emphasised that cooperative and legislative council polls operate under entirely different dynamics.

He reiterated full confidence in the victory of candidates such as Smita Jadhav and Kaustubh Gawde, noting that alliance-supporting voters will firmly back the coalition.

The Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil also said that the Mahayuti will win all five seats.

Expressing strong confidence in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ahead of the Legislative Council elections, the Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar predicted victories across all five seats, including the Nagpur Graduate constituency, both seats in Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Amravati. Levelling serious allegations over electoral integrity, Wadettiwar claimed that flawed voter lists are a critical issue and asserted that the BJP resorts to manipulation in voter rolls because it cannot win elections fairly.

The Pune graduate constituency records the highest participation base with approximately 3.88 lakh voters. The Amravati teacher constituency records the smallest base with approximately 35,000 voters.

To ensure ballot validity, voters were required to present valid identification documents, including Aadhaar cards, driving licenses, PAN cards, Indian passports, government or semi-government service ID cards, MP/MLA/MLC official IDs, educational institution service IDs, or original university degree/diploma certificates.

The election process in the Nagpur graduate constituency witnessed friction following allegations of discrepancies in the voter rolls. Congress candidate Abhijit Wanjari and party leaders raised concerns over 8,744 duplicate voter entries across multiple polling booths, calling the situation a matter of serious concern.

Congress state chief spokesperson Atul Londhe alleged during a press conference that approximately 20,000 to 22,000 voter registrations were processed using a single mobile number (5432154321), and questioned the transparency of the verification process. A formal letter demanding an inquiry was submitted to the divisional commissioner by Congress leader Prafulla Goodhe.

Following complaints, election authorities at polling booths required voters with duplicate listings to execute a short written declaration confirming they were voting at only one designated location and would not cast a vote elsewhere.

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) conducted a raid in Kurla, Mumbai, and suspended the license of ‘Desired Food and Hospitality’ (Delhi Zaiqa), imposing a complete ban on the sale of food items and prepared dishes at the establishment. Any violation of this order will result in further action by the FDA in accordance with the Food Safety Act.

During the inspection, the FDA observed several issues: the paint or plaster on the walls, ceilings, and doors was peeling; refrigeration and freezing facilities were inadequate; doors were not properly secured against pests; and utensils and containers were not in a condition to be cleaned effectively. The flooring had cracks, lacked proper slip resistance, and had an incorrect slope. Furthermore, food items were not stored at appropriate temperatures, and the establishment failed to follow FIFO (First-In, First-Out) or FEFO (First-Expired, First-Out) inventory management practices.

Additionally, the cooking oil used was unsuitable and unmonitored. There was no segregation between raw and cooked food, or between vegetarian and non-vegetarian items. Utensils were unclean, and the food did not meet hygiene standards. Records regarding suppliers and product expiry dates were unavailable. There was poor management of food quality, alongside unsanitary conditions in the kitchen and surrounding areas, including a lack of cleaning for floors and drains. Based on these findings, the FDA has suspended the establishment’s license for violating established rules and regulations.