NEW DELHI: As the war between the Tamil Nadu government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) escalates – each initiating a separate investigation into the case of alleged bribery against an ED officer, now in custody – the central agency has shifted its probe against its own officer, who is the accused in the case, as well as officials of the state’s vigilance and anti-corruption department (DVAC) to its New Delhi headquarters.
Sources said the decision was necessitated by the fear of non-cooperation and meddling by the state police.
On December 2, a day after Tamil Nadu’s DVAC arrested ED officer Ankit Tiwari in Madurai and carried out searches at the ED’s local office, the central agency wrote to the state director general of police asking him to register an FIR against the state vigilance officials for alleged trespass on its premises.
ITBP takes over security of ED office
As reported by TOI, the ED in its letter to the DGP had claimed that 35 people illegally entered its office in Madurai on December 1 without proper search warrants and took away sensitive case files. The security of ED’s office(s) in Tamil Nadu has since been taken over by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police which comes under the ministry of home affairs. Sources in Delhi could not confirm whether the FIR sought by the ED has been registered yet.
Simultaneously, the ED registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, to probe the case registered by the state vigilance department against Tiwari for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a government servant and shifted the probe to its New Delhi headquarters.
The TN police have registered an FIR against officials of the central agency on a complaint from the vigilance department for allegedly interfering and obstructing their searches conducted at the agency’s Madurai office on December 1-2. As reported by TOI, the ED had flagged its concerns regarding the sensitivity of its operations to the DGP. “There was no mention of these 35 people who were present. Their identity is not known. Whether they are police or private parties, even that is not known. Whether anyone has vested interest as of now is also not ascertainable. We are in the process of ascertaining the same. How many documents were copied (and could be misused) is also not known,” the ED had said in its letter to the DGP.
The enforcement agency also raised concerns about the safety of its witnesses, whose identity it had kept secret, in the cases concerning powerful people. “There are many cases which require protection of witnesses since the ED is investigating many powerful people in the state. We have a video recording which shows the presence of 35 people,” the ED wrote.
The agency is currently investigating over half a dozen ministers in the DMK government in connection with various corruption cases.
Sources said the decision was necessitated by the fear of non-cooperation and meddling by the state police.
On December 2, a day after Tamil Nadu’s DVAC arrested ED officer Ankit Tiwari in Madurai and carried out searches at the ED’s local office, the central agency wrote to the state director general of police asking him to register an FIR against the state vigilance officials for alleged trespass on its premises.
ITBP takes over security of ED office
As reported by TOI, the ED in its letter to the DGP had claimed that 35 people illegally entered its office in Madurai on December 1 without proper search warrants and took away sensitive case files. The security of ED’s office(s) in Tamil Nadu has since been taken over by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police which comes under the ministry of home affairs. Sources in Delhi could not confirm whether the FIR sought by the ED has been registered yet.
Simultaneously, the ED registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, to probe the case registered by the state vigilance department against Tiwari for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a government servant and shifted the probe to its New Delhi headquarters.
The TN police have registered an FIR against officials of the central agency on a complaint from the vigilance department for allegedly interfering and obstructing their searches conducted at the agency’s Madurai office on December 1-2. As reported by TOI, the ED had flagged its concerns regarding the sensitivity of its operations to the DGP. “There was no mention of these 35 people who were present. Their identity is not known. Whether they are police or private parties, even that is not known. Whether anyone has vested interest as of now is also not ascertainable. We are in the process of ascertaining the same. How many documents were copied (and could be misused) is also not known,” the ED had said in its letter to the DGP.
The enforcement agency also raised concerns about the safety of its witnesses, whose identity it had kept secret, in the cases concerning powerful people. “There are many cases which require protection of witnesses since the ED is investigating many powerful people in the state. We have a video recording which shows the presence of 35 people,” the ED wrote.
The agency is currently investigating over half a dozen ministers in the DMK government in connection with various corruption cases.