Bribe to cover up case: 'digital lock' for ED officer; Vigilance to question

KOCHI: Vigilance has received crucial digital evidence against Enforcement Directorate Assistant Director Shekhar Kumar, the main accused in the case of demanding a bribe of Rs 2 crore to settle a case. The Vigilance has received evidence of a conversation between Chartered Accountant Ranjith Warrier, the fourth accused in the case, and Shekhar Kumar through a special app. The phones of the accused were seized earlier and handed over for forensic examination. This is where the Vigilance got valuable information.

New evidence was obtained during the vigilance move to question Shekhar Kumar. The High Court single bench had granted anticipatory bail to Shekhar Kumar in the bribery case. It was also directed that the petitioner should appear before the investigating officer within two weeks. The vigilance has decided to approach the court to cancel the bail if he does not appear within two weeks.

The case is that a bribe of Rs 2 crore was demanded to avoid a case in the name of Anish, a cashew businessman from Kollam. The other accused are Wilson Varghese, a native of Thammanam, and Mukesh, a native of Rajasthan. The ED had transferred Shekhar Kumar to Shillong while the vigilance investigation was in progress.

FaceTime App

It is reported that Shekhar Kumar and Ranjith Warrier contacted each other through the app 'FaceTime', which is used to transfer information only from iPhone to iPhone. Audio and video calls can be made. Evidence was found that Shekhar Kumar and Ranjith made audio calls several times.