Tamil Nadu: Police Registers Case Against Enforcement Directorate Officials Amidst Ongoing Standoff With DVAC

In a recent development, the Tamil Nadu police have taken legal action against officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over allegations of obstructing investigators from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in the performance of their duties.

As reported by The Hindu, the Madurai city police received a complaint from DVAC officials, claiming they were hindered from conducting a search in the room of Enforcement Officer Ankit Tiwari on 1 December 2023, following his arrest in a trap case.

According to DVAC officials, their search team encountered obstacles for over three hours despite notifying the ED Assistant Director about the operation. The events were documented in a search 'magazar' report, signed by the Assistant Director in the presence of official witnesses.

Contrastingly, the ED's assistant director expressed protest in the search 'magazar' report, alleging the search was conducted unprofessionally and illegally.

He claimed that the search team failed to produce identity cards or display search authority documents and accessed unrelated confidential and sensitive documents despite requests.

While DVAC filed a complaint against ED officials, the State police have not yet responded to the counter-complaint by the ED.