Tamil Nadu DVAC conducts raids at ED Office, following the arrest of the central agency officer Ankit Tiwari

Officials from the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption conducted raids at the Madurai office of the Enforcement Directorate on Friday, after the arrest of Ankit Tiwari, a senior officer of the Enforcement Directorate, in Dindigul district earlier that day. Tiwari was allegedly caught accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from an individual on the Dindigul-Madurai highway. The arrest was carried out by the Madurai branch of the state police's Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption.

The complainant, Dr. Suresh Babu alerted the Tamil Nadu police after he was asked to pay a bribe by the central agency officer. In 2018, Babu had been implicated in a disproportionate assets case filed in 2018. Despite the case's completion and Babu facing departmental action, he was summoned by the central agency's Madurai office a few months ago. Allegedly, Ankit Tiwari, the Enforcement Directorate officer, threatened Babu with arrest unless he paid a bribe of Rs 3 crore. Upon negotiating with Ankit Tiwari, the amount was reduced to Rs 51 lakh.

On November 1, Babu is reported to have handed over more than Rs 20 lakh in cash to Tiwari. Reportedly, officials from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption instructed Babu to hand over Rs 20 lakh in cash to Tiwari on Friday. Following the cash exchange, the Tamil Nadu Police intercepted Anikt Tiwari's car at the Kodaikanal road toll collection plaza, confiscating the cash and detaining him for further questioning. Tiwari was then taken to Madurai, where the police conducted a search of his residence in the Kosakulam locality. The state's anti-corruption officials also conducted raids at the Enforcement Directorate office in Madurai.

This is not the first time this year that a Central Agency employee was caught accepting bribes. Recently, there have been instances of state police arresting officials from central agencies on corruption charges. On November 2, the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau apprehended an Enforcement Directorate official and a companion for purportedly taking a bribe of Rs 15 lakh.