3 officers questioned in Kerala ED-linked case
The three accused arrived at the VACB office on Friday morning for questioning a day after they were granted bail in the case by the Vigilance court in Muvattupuzha
Officers of the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) have questioned three people, including chartered accountant Renjith Warrier, arrested in the bribery case, in which a top official of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been booked, at its office in Kochi.
The three accused — Renjith Warrier, Wilson Varghese and Mukesh Kumar — arrived at the VACB office on Friday morning for questioning a day after they were granted bail in the case by the Vigilance court in Muvattupuzha. One of the conditions for bail was that they had to report to the VACB office in connection with the proceedings of the case.
The FIR registered by the VACB last week stated that the three accused demanded a bribe of ₹2 crore from a Kottarakkara-based cashew exporter in exchange for not arraigning him in a money laundering case being probed by the ED. Wilson, the VACB said, approached the businessman Aneesh Babu pretending to be an “agent of the ED” promising him that the money laundering case would go away if he paid ₹2 crore in four instalments to a Mumbai-based bank account. Wilson was eventually arrested red-handed by the VACB while accepting a bribe of ₹2 lakh from the businessman at Panampilly Nagar in Kochi. The arrests of Warrier and Kumar followed subsequently.
The first accused in the case is incidentally Shekhar Kumar, an assistant director rank officer of the ED attached to its Kochi office, who has been booked based on the complaint of the businessman. So far, VACB has not shared details on the ED official’s alleged involvement in the bribery case. Kumar, it is learnt, has approached the High Court for anticipatory bail.
S Sasidharan, VACB superintendent of police, told reporters on Friday that his unit has petitioned the ED for files related to the money laundering case against Babu.
“We are working diligently to unearth the truth in the case. Based on the preliminary information so far, there is truth in the allegations against the accused. That’s why we registered the FIR and made the arrests. The forensic materials in the case are being examined and the results should arrive in a few days. We have also sent a notice to the ED asking for files in connection with the case against (the businessman),” he told reporters.
Officials of the federal agency told HT last week that the allegations against their colleague appeared to be the businessman’s attempt to malign the unit as he is under the scanner and has skipped multiple summons.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case was filed against Babu, his father Babu George and mother Anitha Babu based on five FIRs registered by the local police in Kerala on complaints of cheating to the tune of ₹24.73 crore, ED officials said. They were accused of cheating several persons by promising to import cashew at low prices through their firm Vazhavila Cashews in Kottarakkara.
“Now, Babu has made baseless allegations before the media against the ED officials, apparently to derail the PMLA investigation against him. The allegation appears to be an attempt to trigger a media trial with an intent to malign the image of the ED and deflect attention from the ongoing money laundering case. He has frequently changed his statements and allegations in the media to prejudice local public opinion,” an officer said on condition of anonymity.
The ED, an officer said, maintains a “zero-tolerance policy towards corruption’ and is ‘committed to uncovering the truth”.
