Probe teams inspected accounts of these Kerala banks in presence of senior officials, sources said.
District Co-operative Banks across Kerala were raided by teams of Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI this evening. The raids took place in Kollam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Mallapuram.
Sources said the probe teams inspected the accounts of these banks in detail and in the presence of senior bank officials.
The raids aim to track 'benami' holders or money conversions and transfers from the Gulf through hawala channels, sources said. The raids started minutes before 5 pm, before the co-operatives banks were set to shut down for the evening.
Kerala, which has a large network of co-operative banks, has witnessed several protests led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well as the opposition, against the central government's decision to not allow co-operative banks to exchange old 500 or 1000-rupees, and a cap on the money that they can receive from their main district branches.