The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out searches at over 11 locations here, including the residence of former Border Security Force (BSF) commandant Zibi D. Mathew, in connection with its probe into an alleged hawala racket.

A senior ED official said that multiple teams of the financial probe agency carried out the raids at over 11 places in the city over suspicion of hawala operatives and their shell companies.

The official said that it carried out searches at the premises of alleged animal smuggler Mohammad Inamul Haque and others.

The ED searches came in the wake of an FIR filed by the CBI against Mathew, who was arrested by them in March last year with over Rs 45 lakh in cash. The official said that it got the tip-off that Mathew and Haque shared a good bond and thus to unearth their nexus involving financial dealings, the ED raided several premises here.