The Enforcement Directorate (ED) started searches on Tuesday morning at multiple locations in Kolkata linked to the Prayag Group in connection with its investigation into the chit fund scam, officials said.

Among the places where the searches were being conducted were a residential building in New Alipore belonging to a senior official of the Prayag Group and a guest house in suburban Joka, they said.

A large contingent of Central Armed Police Forces was accompanying the ED teams that were conducting the searches, they added.

Prayag Group's chit fund business was spread across east and Northeast India, including states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Tripura. It was alleged that the firm had mobilised more than Rs 1,900 crore from the public by floating illegal schemes.

In 2017, the CBI arrested Prayag Group's CMD Basudeb Bagchi, and his son Avik Bagchi on the basis of a case registered in Odisha.

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