MUMBAI, July 2 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) to probe suspected money laundering aspects in an alleged corruption case against a former chief manager of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and four others, including three private firms. They have been accused of causing a loss of over Rs.800 crore to the port authority. The alleged irregularities in the case are linked to the dredging of a navigational channel in two phases. The ED case is based on a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 18 about the hatching of an alleged criminal conspiracy by the then JNPA officials and private persons and entities, which caused a loss of over Rs.800 crore to the port authority. The central agency had flagged the contracts awarded to a consortium of two private firms under a central dredging project to increase the depth of the navigational channel to facilitate entry of large vessels to the JNPA at Nhava Sheva, Navi Mumbai. A private consulting company had acted as the project management consultant for the port authority in the project, according to CBI. It was alleged that during Phase I of the project, JNPA made excess payments, worth around Rs.365.90 crore, to the contractors against claims raised for over-dredging of the navigational channels. Similarly, in Phase II, which overlapped with the maintenance period of Phase I, JNPA allegedly made an additional excess payment of Rs.438 crore to the contractor, by showing that no over-dredging was done in Phase I or the maintenance period thereafter, according to CBI officials. The CBI registered a case against former chief manager S Madabhavi and three firms, Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), Mumbai, BoskalisSmit India LLP, Mumbai, Jan De Nul Dredging India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, and a private individual. The probe is also looking into roles of other (unknown) public officials and private persons....