Tamil Nadu’s anti-corruption department, Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), on Friday arrested a senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from an individual in Dindigul district.
Ankit Tiwari, an Enforcement Officer with the central agency was caught "red-handed" by officials from the DVAC near a toll gate in the Dindigul district. The DVAC, on specific information, intercepted the car he was travelling in and recovered cash and his identity card from the vehicle.
According to sources in the DVAC, Tiwari was caught by the agency, along with Dindigul police while he was taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a doctor in Dindigul. Sources told THE WEEK that Tiwari, with his team of ED officers, was threatening several people in the state who are under the ED scanner. Tiwari and his team allegedly took bribes from several individuals in the name of closing their case.
Tiwari's arrest comes two days after the ED saw a huge setback in Tamil Nadu, with the Madras High Court staying the summons sent by the agency to five district collectors, to question them in connection with the illegal sand mining scam. The central agency The central agency has been close on heels of DMK, ever since the party assumed power in the state in 2021.
The ED has been on a spree in the State, conducting searches in sand mining quarries and at premises linked to powerful ministers in the state. On June 14, Minister Senthil Balaji was arrested by ED and was lodged in Puzhal prison. Balaji complained of chest pain immediately after his arrest and he later underwent a bypass surgery.
ED also summoned Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy and his MP son Gowtham Sigamani on Thursday in relation to a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining.