KOCHI: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Sunday received three new complaints alleging malpractice by officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), raising concerns over the central agency’s credibility.

The complaints spell fresh trouble for the ED, which is in the dock after an assistant director with its Kochi unit was named prime accused in a Rs 2-crore bribery case, in which three middlemen were also arrested. “We have received three more complaints against ED officials and are examining them,” said a source with the bureau, adding that the probe by the VACB SP was on and hence, more details could not be divulged.

VACB Ernakulam SP S Sasidharan said they had received some oral complaints and were in the process of assessing their authenticity and gathering more information. The VACB had named Shekar Kumar, the ED (Kochi) assistant director, as the prime accused in the bribery case based on the probe initiated on the complaint of Aneesh Babu, a Kottarakkara-based businessman engaged in the export of cashew to African countries. Aneesh was interrogated by the ED last year over alleged irregularities in transfer of funds overseas.

The case was registered after the VACB caught Wilson Varghese, a resident of Thammanam in Kochi and middleman, accepting the bribe on Thursday. This led to the arrests of Mukesh Jain alias Murali, a Rajasthan native living in Kochi, on Friday, and Renjith Warrier, a chartered accountant based in Kochi, on Saturday. The three arrested persons are in judicial custody.

Sasidharan said the arrested were cooperating with the investigation. “We are collecting their statements. More arrests are likely. If any wrongdoing is confirmed, strict legal action will be taken regardless of the accused’s position,” he said.

ED deputy director accused of mental harassment

Aneesh Babu, the complainant in the bribery case, on Sunday accused ED deputy director Vinod Kumar of severe mental harassment. Addressing reporters, Aneesh said the officer summoned him into his cabin, used abusive language and even forced him to sit on the floor. Initially, Aneesh had levelled the harassment allegations against ED regional deputy director P Radhakrishnan. However, he admitted to a mix-up and said no other ED official other than Vinod had threatened him directly.