Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 (UNI) CPI (M) Rajya Sabha member AA Rahim has sought Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's urgent intervention and investigation into bribery allegations involving Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Kochi.

In his letter, the Rajya Sabha member urged Nirmala Sitharaman to suspend all the accused officials immediately and take appropriate disciplinary action against those found guilty.

"I am writing to express grave concern over reports of serious bribery allegations involving officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its Kochi unit."

"It has come to light that certain officers are alleged to have demanded and accepted bribes in exchange for diluting or settling ongoing investigations. It is deeply troubling that the very institution entrusted with the responsibility of preventing money laundering is now itself doing corruption," he said.

These developments are deeply disturbing and can have far-reaching implications on the rule of law, he felt.

"Furthermore, I request that systemic safeguards be strengthened to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future," he added.

There are allegations that ED official among 4 booked for ‘seeking bribe to settle probes. ED Assistant Director, Shekhar Kumar, has been allegedly named as the first accused in a report submitted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), which is probing the bribe case.

The VACB initiated probe into the bribe case following a complaint from cashew businessman from Kollam, Aneesh Kumar, who was asked by the ED official to submit the details of the import of cashew from Africa. The ED served summons citing suppressed business volumes and sought the details of the import for the past 8 years.

UNI DS GNK