The Directorate of Enforcement sleuths, Bangalore, raided the office and residence of an alleged hawala operator here and seized Rs 1.2 crore, including in Rs 10 lakh in foreign currency, and many incriminating documents.

Sources said Ratan Das (50), a money lender in Banashankari,  had reportedly been working as a hawala operator for the last five years and has a wide network in Singapore, Dubai, the UK, Australia and HongKong. He was running a money lending firm.

The officials also apprehended Mohammed, a conduit from Kerala, who had come to collect the money from Das.

This is the first raid of a hawala operator after a gap of two years. Hawala operations are rampant in areas like MG Road, Chikpet, Banshankari and Burma Bazar.