Enquiry to be conducted to ascertain possible involvement of other ED officials in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), late on Friday, confirmed that enquiry will be conducted to ascertain the possible involvement of other ED officials in a bribery case under investigation.

The first installment of Rs 20 lakh bribe given to Enforcement Directorate officer Ankit Tiwari has been captured on camera, the complainant, a government medical doctor, has affirmed and it was quoted in the Tamil Nadu police FIR.

The complainant, Dr T Suresh Babu, told his car driver to put the Rs 20 lakh cash, into the ED officer’s car trunk.

Tiwari wanted cash to be placed in his car’s boot and it was carried out accordingly.

The ED officer opened his car’s boot to facilitate the deposit of bribe money. It happened on November 1, 2023 at a highway near Madurai and the entire incident has been recorded by a camera fixed in the front portion of Babu’s car.

In his complaint, which is referred in full in the FIR, Babu said he could not immediately lodge a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) as he was in agony and he was also indisposed due to the ED officer’s coercion.

The DVAC is the Tamil Nadu police’s anti-graft unit. On October 30, when Tiwari demanded Rs 3 crore, he had claimed that it was meant for his “higher official.” Finally, the Central agency official reduced the bribe amount to Rs 51 lakh.

Citing the pending DVAC-disproportionate assets case against Babu, the ED officer had told the doctor that there is a ‘complaint’ against him and to avoid action from the ED, he should pay the bribe.

The complainant, a doctor who is working in a state-run health facility in Dindigul near Madurai, said he gave Rs 20 lakh bribe to Ankit Tiwari under duress.

Babu alleged in his complaint that he was harassed and intimidated by the ED official. Always, the official spoke to the doctor over ‘Whatsapp call.’

Subsequently, on December 1, Tiwari was arrested by the DVAC sleuths after he was caught red-handed taking Rs 20 lakh more, the second installment, from Babu.

After he was taken into custody in Dindigul, a team of the DVAC officials held ‘enquiries’ at the sub-zone ED office in Madurai, with state policemen standing guard outside the central government office.

An official release from DVAC said that enquiry will also be conducted to ascertain the possible involvement of other ED officials. Vigilance authorities conducted searches at the residence of Tiwari and his Enforcement Directorate office in Madurai.

“Further searches will be conducted at the places associated with Ankit Tiwari,” the release said.

Earlier, after the arrival of DVAC sleuths at the office of the central agency in Madurai, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel were deployed by authorities inside the ED office as a ‘security’ measure.

The presence of the state police and the Central police force (ITBP, under the Central Armed Police Forces) at the same time led to a flutter for a while in the Madurai neighbourhood.

Dindigul, about 430 km from here is near Madurai and about 100 km from Tiruchirappalli in central Tamil Nadu.