Kochi: In a major embarrassment for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has registered a corruption case naming ED Assistant Director Shekhar Kumar as the prime accused, following allegations of a ₹2 crore bribe demand from a Kollam-based businessman.
The ED officer, attached to the Kochi unit of the central agency, was booked based on the complaint of the businessman, who was under investigation in an ED case. The case has already led to three arrests, including a chartered accountant and an intermediary allegedly acting as conduits for the bribe.
According to the remand report submitted by VACB to the court, Shekhar Kumar is listed as Accused No. 1. The arrests were made on Friday and Saturday, including that of Kochi-based CA Ranjith Warrier. The other accused include Mukesh Jain, a Rajasthan native residing in Kochi, and a middleman named Wilson.
The case involves a businessman engaged in cashew exports to Africa, who suffered major losses during the COVID-19 pandemic due to fraud by a foreign client. The ED began investigating the matter and issued a summons to the businessman. Soon after, Wilson allegedly approached the businessman, claiming he could "settle" the case due to his contacts within the ED. He demanded ₹2 crore in four instalments.
Suspicion arose when the businessman received a second ED summons, just as Wilson had predicted. Wilson later demanded ₹2 lakh in cash as the first payment. The businessman then approached VACB, which advised him to cooperate for evidence collection. As instructed, he handed over the cash and initiated a bank transfer, allowing authorities to trace the transaction.
Wilson was caught red-handed collecting the bribe and taken into custody. His interrogation led to the arrests of Mukesh Jain and Ranjith Warrier. The trail eventually pointed to ED officer Shekhar Kumar, prompting his inclusion as the prime accused in the First Information Report (FIR).
VACB Superintendent S Sasidharan confirmed the development and said a detailed investigation is ongoing. “The complainant has mentioned the name of the ED official in his complaint. So, he has been named as the prime accused in the FIR,” Sasidharan told reporters. However, Shekhar Kumar has not yet been arrested.
He further stated that if a complaint contains specific allegations against an individual, it is standard procedure to list them as an accused pending further verification. More information is expected as the investigation progresses.
The case has raised serious concerns about the integrity of the ED’s functioning in Kerala, with attention now turning to how the central agency will respond to the charges against one of its own senior officers.
With IANS inputs