The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Saturday conducted searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), at nine premises linked to suppliers and exporters located in Kolkata, Burdwan and Habra in connection with a public distribution system (PDS) scam case involving Niranjan Chandra Saha and his associates.The raids were conducted at a time when the West Bengal Assembly elections are under way and the second phase of polling is due on April 29.The ED had initiated its investigation primarily on the basis of an FIR registered by the West Bengal Police on a complaint by the Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Ghojadanga, alleging large-scale diversion of PDS wheat meant for welfare schemes.Investigations further revealed that the accused had adopted a systematic modus operandi to divert PDS wheat meant for welfare beneficiaries.The wheat was allegedly procured at low prices through unauthorised channels, in collusion with suppliers, licensed distributors, dealers and middlemen.Large quantities were allegedly diverted illegally from the supply chain and aggregated at multiple locations.To conceal its origin, the accused reportedly removed or reversed the original gunny bags bearing Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government markings and refilled them, thereby hiding identifying features and passing off the PDS wheat as legitimate stock for further sale in the open market or for export.This resulted in undue enrichment of the accused persons and the generation of proceeds of crime, the ED said.