Enforcement Directorate writes to Tamil Nadu DGP to book DVAC for 'illegal' raids, 'stealing' documents

The Enforcement Directorate has shot off a complaint to the Tamil Nadu DGP to file a case against the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption (DVAC) officials for the alleged 'illegal' raids and 'stealing' documents. The letter circulated to the media by the central agency levelled multiple charges against the state's anti-corruption agency. The raid at the ED office was carried after the arrest of ED officer, Ankit Tiwari, who works as an enforcement officer with the Madurai sub-zone of the central agency, by the DVAC sleuths in Dindigul for accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakhs from a government doctor.

Chennai:Enforcement Directorate has written to Tamil Nadu Director General of Police to book the Directorate of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption (DVAC) for 'illegal' raids and 'stealing' documents, a copy of the letter circulated to the media by the central agency showed.

The raid was a follow up to the arrest of an ED officer - Ankit Tiwari, who works as an enforcement officer with the Madurai sub-zone of the central agency- by the DVAC in Dindigul district for allegedly seeking and accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakhs from a government doctor.

According to the letter, two persons claiming to be Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials came to the Madurai office around 1.15 pm on December 1. The duo went back when asked to identify themselves with identity cards and purpose of visit. An hour later, people began arriving at the office.

The complaint said around 35 persons including those in civvies, claiming to be Police persons from DVAC along with media and mob forcefully entered the ED office, Madurai. It said the raid party was reluctant to provide any identity cards and barged in, while adding that DSP Sathyaseelan, of V&AC, Madurai, was the lone person who gave his introduction.

The 35 persons continuously remained in the ED's Madurai office from 2.30 pm on December 1, 2023 to 7:15 am of December 2, 2023.

"Time and again, we have questioned the presence of so many persons, and repeatedly sought for a copy of FIR, search authorization, identity and authorization of the so many persons present, however, our request simply fell on deaf ears," the complaint said.

The complaint alleged that the DVAC search party's entry into Ankit Tiwari's office was illegal. It also listed the opening of case files, which the agency claimed had no relation to Ankit's case, and accessing of sensitive case records- information and internal documents of ED related to other cases, among others as illegal.

The agency alleged that the room of Ankit was locked intermittently during this search which offered unauthorised persons accessing the records of the central agency in private, and that the search party ransacked the entire office.

The graphic complaint from ED also accused the search party of sharing information about various records and taking instructions to several people over phone. It claimed that they had to do this since they have pressure.

The letter said the subsequent search at the office of sub-zone office by the DVAC "is not only illegal, but also mala fide."

We would, therefore, request you to register our FIR for the following offences committed by the officials of DVAC and various unauthorised unknown persons, the letter written by Brijesh Beniwal, working as Assistant Director in Madurai Sub-Zonal Office of the ED in Madurai, read the complaint letter.

It listed out the following reasons as the necessity to register an First Information Report (FIR) for 'criminal trespass' in to the office of Deputy Director, Madurai, Enforcement Directorate.

Conducting illegal search and barging into the office of ED unauthorisedly against the DVAC officials and to allow many unauthorised persons to barge into the premises of ED, for stealing various sensitive case records of ED; account of which is being taken, for illegal access to various sensitive case records and taking copies in mobile / other electronic media which could jeopardise investigation, and for barging of the unauthorised persons in the office of ED, are the four major charges made by the ED official in his letter to the DGP.

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