ED Officer Caught Taking Rs 20 lakh Bribe in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: An officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) identified as Ankit Tiwari was arrested after he was caught red-handed while allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a government employee in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul.

Personnel of the Tamil Nadu State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption department arrested the ED officer, who was sent to judicial custody till December 15. Following Ankit’s arrest, searches were carried out by the Dindigul district Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) at the ED’s Madurai office and Ankit Tiwari’s residence.

Ankit Tiwari had allegedly been blackmailing many people and was taking bribes worth crores from them. He was also distributing the bribes to other ED officials, sources added.

As per reports, investigation has hinted that more ED officers from Madurai and Chennai were involved in bribery case.

On October 29, Ankit Tiwari allegedly contacted a government employee from Dindigul in connection with a DVAC case against him that had been closed. Ankit threatened the employee that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had asked the ED to conduct an investigation into the matter. The ED officer allegedly demanded Rs 3 crore bribe to close the investigation. Later the bribe amount was compromised to Rs 51 lakh. On November 1, the government employee gave the first instalment of Rs 20 lakh to the ED officer. The ED officer said the amount had to be shared among higher officials so demanded the full amount. He also threatened the government employee of severe action, if he failed to pay up.

Suspecting Ankit Tiwari’s activity, the government employee filed a complaint against him with DVAC’s Dindigul unit on November 30. On Friday, December 1, Ankit Tiwari was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting the second instalment of Rs 20 lakh from the government employee.