Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to examine the disproportionate assets case registered against TTD deputy executive officer Mendu Lokanadham as part of its ongoing money-laundering probe into the Tirupati laddu ghee adulteration case, ED sources said.The move comes after Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered a case against Lokanadham following information shared by the CBI after completing its investigation into the ghee adulteration case and filing a chargesheet.ED sources said the agency would look at whether the assets identified by ACB have any link with the alleged proceeds and money trail already under investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).ACB finds assets worth about ₹5 croreACB registered case against Lokanadham under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and conducted simultaneous searches at four locations in Tirupati, including his residence and premises linked to relatives, in the early hours of Sept 2.“During the searches, incriminating evidence, including property documents, was seized,” ACB said.According to the ACB, documents showed a house at PK Layout, Tirupati, and two house plots with a building at Gollavanigunta residential area were registered in the name of Lokanadham’s wife. Investigators also found documents relating to a house plot at Padiredu Aranyam village in Vadamalapet mandal and another plot at Srinivasa Nagar, Tirupati Urban, registered in his son’s name. ACB also found four fixed deposits in the names of the officer and his son.Searches at the houses of Lokanadham’s brothers-in-law led to the recovery of a property document jointly held by his wife and others, valued at ₹31.98 lakh, besides about 2kg gold, ₹12.5 lakh cash and 6.5kg silver. ACB estimated the assets detected so far at around ₹5 crore and said searches were continuing.Lokanadham, a native of Gundlakandriga village in Yerpedu mandal of Tirupati district, joined TTD as a junior assistant on compassionate grounds on Feb 1, 1989. He later served as senior assistant, superintendent and assistant executive officer before becoming deputy executive officer at Tirumala.ED tracing alleged bribe, hawala trailThe CBI had also shared information on the alleged disproportionate assets of some TTD employees with ACB. Acting on similar information, ACB’s Visakhapatnam office had earlier registered a DA case on April 22 against K Chinna Appanna, personal assistant to then TTD chairperson .ED registered an ECIR in February in connection with the ghee adulteration case after the investigation flagged alleged tender manipulation, illegal gratification and hawala-linked cash transactions involving private suppliers, intermediaries and TTD officials.In June, ED searched 15 locations across six states and said its investigation had traced about ₹45 crore allegedly invested in immovable properties through interconnected entities and business concerns. Around ₹60-64 lakh in cash was also seized during the searches.The CBI-SIT chargesheet in the underlying case named 36 accused, including nine TTD officials and five dairy experts, and alleged that chemically processed palm, palmolein and palm-kernel oils with additives were supplied as ghee over several years. The forensic investigation, according to the inputs in the case, did not detect animal fat.