Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted raids at the premises of three city-based infrastructure companies — Sreekrishna Constructions, Quorizon Spaces, and Udaya SSV Projects — as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation involving suspended HMDA town planning official Shiva Balakrishna.Searches were carried out at multiple locations in the city, including Lakadikapul, Kondapur, and Ramanthapur, focusing on the residences and offices of the company directors. The ED is probing whether these firms were used to route or park illicit funds allegedly linked to Balakrishna’s disproportionate assets case.Suspected financial linksDuring Thursday’s searches, ED teams seized financial records, digital devices, and property-related documents from the directors’ premises. These are now being analysed to determine the nature and extent of the companies’ links to Balakrishna, including any role in concealing or facilitating the laundering of illicit wealth.ED sources said the probe aims to establish whether the three infrastructure firms served as conduits for laundering corrupt proceeds and whether they benefited from preferential treatment or approvals from the suspended official.Money laundering trailThe case originated from an earlier probe by the Anti Corruption Bureau, which arrested Balakrishna and his brother Naveen Kumar earlier this year. The duo was accused of amassing assets vastly disproportionate to their known sources of income. These allegedly included tens of acres of agricultural land, multiple open plots, and a luxury villa, with a combined estimated value of over ₹200 crore.According to investigators, the properties were believed to have been acquired through a network of benami transactions and quid pro quo arrangements involving real estate developers, potentially in exchange for regulatory favours or planning approvals.Based on material collected by the ACB, the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to trace the origins of these assets and examine the financial trail.The investigation remains ongoing.
