New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday carried out searches at 15 premises across six states as part of its money-laundering investigation into a nationwide recruitment scam involving fraudulent government job appointment letters, officials said.

According to officials, the agency is probing an organised network accused of sending fake joining letters to job aspirants. The ED’s Patna unit is leading the coordinated searches in Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

While the racket first surfaced in connection with alleged Railway job offers, deeper inquiries uncovered that more than 40 government bodies and departments were targeted. These include the Forest Department, Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), India Post, Income Tax Department, several high courts, Public Works Department, the Bihar government, Delhi Development Authority, Rajasthan secretariat and others.

Investigators found that the group created fake email IDs that mimicked official government domains to send fraudulent joining letters to unsuspecting candidates.

To make the operation appear genuine, the gang even issued “initial salaries for 2-3 months to some victims” who had been illegally placed in posts such as RPF constables, Railway TTEs and technicians, the ED learned.

Searches are underway in Muzaffarpur and Motihari in Bihar; Kolkata in West Bengal; Ernakulam, Pandalam, Adoor and Kodur in Kerala; Chennai in Tamil Nadu; Rajkot in Gujarat and Gorakhpur, Prayagraj and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, officials added.

PTI