CPI(M) turns up heat on Enforcement Directorate over ₹2 crore bribe scandal

The CPI(M) has intensified its attack on the Enforcement Directorate (ED), questioning the agency’s credibility and integrity in the wake of bribery allegations against senior officials in its Kochi unit. As the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) deepens its probe into the case, CPI(M) politburo member M.A. Baby slammed the ED, declaring that the agency has long faced accusations of political misuse—and now stands tainted by corruption charges as well.

Shekhar Kumar, Assistant Director of the Enforcement Directorate’s  Kochi unit, is the key accused in the case registered by the VACB. According to the remand report filed by the VACB before the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Special Court, the case involves an alleged attempt to extort ₹2 crore from a Kollam-based businessman. Three individuals are already in VACB custody in connection with the case.

The businessman, who had been running a cashew export-import firm filed the complaint after being summoned by the ED’s Kochi unit in 2024. The agency had accused him of manipulating accounts to conceal money laundering, citing the firm’s high turnover.

According to the remand report, the first accused, Kumar, had demanded years-old financial documents and threatened the businessman with arrest and a registered case. Soon after, an agent named Wilson Varghese—who is currently in VACB custody—allegedly approached the businessman, offering to settle the ED matter for ₹2 crore—purportedly to be paid to Kumar. He also demanded ₹2 lakh in cash, to be handed over in person on May 15, 2025.

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A chartered accountant named Ranjith Warrier shared the businessman’s details with Wilson.

Alarmed, the businessman approached the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), which verified the complaint and launched a sting operation. On May 16, Varghese was caught red-handed while collecting the marked ₹2 lakh in cash.

The state unit of CPI(M) is also actively portraying the bribery scandal as evidence of widespread corruption within the ED as well as a vindication of their long-standing allegation that the agency was being misused by the central government for political vendettas against opponents.

Notably, the VACB's move has come at a time when the ED is examining findings from the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office related to suspicious financial dealings involving the IT firm of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter.

The Congress party also came forward with allegations that there was widespread corruption in the ED, reiterating the view that the agency was being politically used. However, the leader of the opposition, V.D. Satheeshan, also alleged a CPM-BJP nexus as the reason for ED cases against CPI(M) leaders getting sabotaged.

India