LUCKNOW, Dec. 13 -- In a crackdown on the multi-crore codeine-based cough syrup diversion racket, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted simultaneous searches at 25 locations across six cities in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat, officials confirmed. Officials said the coordinated action is aimed at exposing the financial and operational structure of the trafficking network. In Lucknow, searches were carried out at five premises, including those of dismissed UP police constable and a former MP's aide Alok Pratap Singh, Jaunpur businessman Amit Singh 'Tata', and three others. Searches were also conducted at two Varanasi houses of the alleged kingpin Shubham Jaiswal, believed to be in Dubai, the residence of chartered accountant Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, also in Varanasi, the office of Abbott Pharmaceuticals, and facilities of two major pharmaceutical companies in Ranchi and Ahmedabad. Searches were also conducted in Saharanpur and Jaunpur. Around 7.30 am, nearly 20 ED officials reached Alok Pratap Singh's bungalow in Swastik City, Sultanpur Road, in Lucknow. Family members initially refused to open the gate, but the team gained entry after half-an-hour and carried out an extensive search. Three almirahs were opened and several documents, mobile phones and files were seized. Search operations continued at the offices of Edhika Life Sciences in LDA Colony and Transport Nagar, and at the homes of Prasad Jaiswal and Archana Manohar Jaiswal in Kailash Vihar, Sarojini Nagar. In Varanasi, ED teams raided six premises linked to Shubham Jaiswal, including his ancestral house in Kayasth Tola under Adampur police station limits and his newly constructed residence in Badshah Bagh Colony, Sigra. The house of Divesh Jaiswal, identified as a crucial link in the supply chain, was also searched. His two-storey home in Khojwan, where he runs a general store on the ground floor, was examined. The agency also conducted physical verification of several fake firms named in the Kotwali police case and questioned individuals associated with suspected shell companies. Enforcement Directorate officers sealed the office of chartered accountant Vishnu Kumar Agrawal, who allegedly managed financial transactions for the syndicate. People familiar with the matter said Agrawal disappeared soon after the racket came to light, raising suspicion about his role in manipulating financial records. The presence of ED teams in commercial areas prompted several shopkeepers to temporarily shut their establishments. Officials said crucial documents, account books, digital records and firm registrations were recovered and were being scrutinised to trace the money trail and identify other beneficiaries. In Saharanpur, ED teams searched the premises of alleged network operators Vishal Rana and Vibhor Rana, where investigators continued examining financial documents, digital records and material linked to the illegal codeine trade. The searches came even as the ED intensified the scrutiny of the duo's associates. On Thursday, the STF arrested Abhishek Sharma and his brother Shubham Sharma from Lucknow's Alambagh area. The two New Delhi-based super distributors for pharmaceutical giant Abbott, are suspected to have played a critical role in facilitating the large-scale diversion of codeine-based cough syrup. Officials recovered two mobile phones and several documents connected to multiple shell companies suspected to be central to the syndicate's operations. Both are now undergoing detailed interrogation as investigators examine their financial dealings with the Rana brothers' network. The case stemmed from the STF registering an FIR at Sushant Golf City police station in Lucknow, following the November 12 arrest of Vibhor Rana and Vishal from Saharanpur, which exposed a massive illegal network. Subsequent arrests of Amit Singh Tata on November 27 and Alok Pratap Singh on December 2 revealed the racket's multi-crore scale. The ED registered a PMLA case on December 1 and began tracking financial links. Over the past five days, investigators examined details of more than 80 firms allegedly connected to over 20 accused, including Shubham Jaiswal, Alok Pratap Singh, Amit Singh Tata, Vibhor Rana and Vishala Rana. On December 8, ED pasted a notice at Jaiswal's Varanasi residence, summoning him despite his suspected stay in Dubai. After consolidating financial and property-related evidence, the ED executed Friday's coordinated raids across the three states....