Reported by Gujarat Samachar
Image: AI Generated Officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided 29 locations across Gujarat and Maharashtra, uncovering a Bhavnagar-controlled WhatsApp syndicate that rigged share prices and trapped over one lakh retail investors.
The crack team from the ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office-I executed simultaneous search operations in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Bhavnagar, Mumbai, and Nashik under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Official records confirm that the enforcement agency froze trading accounts worth approximately ₹200 crore belonging to key syndicate figures and shell entities.
While the promotional WhatsApp communities operated under deceptive titles like "Multibagger Stocks" using SIM cards procured from Haryana and Mumbai, digital forensic tracking confirmed the network was operated directly out of Bhavnagar, Gujarat.
Operators working from the coastal city sent out daily stock tips encouraging retail investors to buy shares of two listed firms—Surat-headquartered R&B Denims Ltd and Nashik-based M/s R M Drip and Sprinklers Systems Ltd. The coordinated social media push caused the buyer base in these scrips to jump from 3,400 to more than 1,00,000 within weeks.
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