New Delhi, The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at 17 locations in Punjab, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, including inthe premises of former J&K Finance Minister and senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather's son Hilal Ahmed Rather.

The searches are in connection with its probe into the Rs 177 crore J&K Bank loan fraud case, a top ED official said.

The ED has registered a case of money laundering on the basis of a CBI FIR and a charge sheet. The CBI had registered the case on March 4.

Rather was arrested by the anti-corruption branch of the J&K Police on January 16.

The ED official said that the agency wants to collect the details of foreign assets of Rather, which will be treated as proceeds of the crime. After identifying the assets, the ED will attach them.

The CBI had named Rather and two others in a charge sheet filed before the court on March 14 in connection with the fraudulent withdrawals.

The CBI found that Rather had entered into a criminal conspiracy with J&K Bank officials to get a Rs 177.68 crore loan sanctioned in violation of the rules and guidelines. The loan were sanctioned for building flats but it was allegedly misappropriated by the accused using the bank accounts of his employees.

Rather also submitted forged certificates and bills to the bank. The account was classified as a non-performing asset on December 31, 2017. The bank officials didn't verify the documents submitted by Rather and also helped in siphoning off and laundering the money.

Rather's partners in the firm -- Rizwan Raheem Dar, Ghulam Mohd Bhatt, Daljeet Wadhera and Deepshikha Jamwal -- are also being probed by the agency.