The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur and Mumbai as part of a money laundering probe against him, officials said.

They said the raids are being carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the locations include Deshmukh's residence in Nagpur.

The central probe agency had registered a criminal case under the anti-money laundering law against Deshmukh, 71, and others last month after studying a recent CBI FIR.

The ED case came about after the CBI first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by filing a regular case on the orders of the Bombay High Court that asked it to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.