India, Aug. 4 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets worth Rs.17.4 crore in a multi-city crackdown linked to a Rs.200 crore money-laundering case involving front-running trades at Axis Mutual Fund. The agency on Saturday also arrested the alleged kingpin, Viresh Joshi, who was the fund manager at Axis Mutual Fund during the time of the alleged offences.

The searches were carried out on Friday and Saturday at locations across Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Bhavnagar, and Kolkata under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The frozen assets - considered proceeds of crime - include shares, mutual fund holdings, and bank balances.

According to the ED, Joshi and others made illegal profits by enga...