India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) said it froze about ₹200 crore in trading accounts during a stock-tip investigation, while the two listed companies involved said the searches had not materially affected their businesses.
R M Drip and Sprinklers Systems Limited made its assessment in an Oct. 19 exchange filing; R & B Denims Limited did so in an Oct. 17 filing. Each said the searches had no material impact on its financial position or operations at the time.
The filings add the companies’ responses to the investigation into alleged WhatsApp stock tips. On Oct. 16, the ED searched 29 premises in Mumbai, Nashik, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat and Bhavnagar under India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED alleges that a network of connected individuals, firms and lenders financed much of the preferential allotments under examination. It said the two companies issued more than 35 million shares and convertible warrants combined to selected recipients between April 2023 and March 2024.
According to the agency, WhatsApp groups sent daily recommendations to buy the shares from late December 2025 through February 2026. For R M Drip, the ED alleges that some preferential allottees sold holdings after the messages helped increase buying interest. It has not put a figure on their gains or investors’ losses.
The ED traced the groups to Bhavnagar and said they used SIM cards registered in other people's names in Haryana and Mumbai. It named Affluence Gems, Kawa HUF and Komalay Consultancy among alleged beneficiary groups and said investigators seized digital devices, share transaction records and property documents.
Both companies had also disclosed searches connected to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in April. Those filings do not report a SEBI finding on the alleged WhatsApp activity. The value of the frozen accounts is not an estimate of investor losses, and the ED said its investigation continues.
