Enforcement Directorate (ED) Deputy Director P Radhakrishnan, who investigated crucial cases, including the diplomatic gold smuggling case, has been removed from service over bribery and leaking raid information.
The Union Finance Ministry issued an order giving him compulsory retirement based on complaints of bribery and leaking of official information. The President signed the order last Friday as part of the extraordinary step taken by the Union government against corruption and malfeasance.
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P Radhakrishnan, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, was the officer who led the investigation into the controversial diplomatic gold smuggling case. However, serious allegations were leveled against him, including that he tried to settle the case when the investigation reached a crucial stage. It has been reported that BJP leaders had alleged at that time that he had colluded in sabotaging the investigation and leaking raid information.
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The sudden halt to the investigation that had reached the Chief Minister’s office had led to major controversies. The main allegation made at the time was that the investigation’s lack of progress after the arrest of Swapna Suresh, M Sivashankar and others was part of a compromise.
Despite being promoted and transferred to Chennai , to complete the investigation of the case, he remained in Kochi. Later, he looked into some matters, including the Karuvannur bank fraud case, but was not given any major responsibilities. Meanwhile, an internal investigation conducted by the Ministry of Finance found that there was merit in the complaints against him, including allegations of bribery and information leakage. Based on this, it was recommended that he be dismissed from service.
P Radhakrishnan has been subjected to a rare disciplinary procedure against senior officials in the central government service. The compulsory retirement was carried out under Fundamental Rule 56(j), a provision that empowers the central government to remove officials from service for alleged corruption or inefficiency in the public interest.
P Radhakrishnan played a major role in the investigation of the diplomatic gold smuggling case. He was at the forefront of interrogating and arresting former principal secretary to the Chief Minister M Sivashankar and Swapna Suresh. However, the unexpected slowdown at a time when it seemed that the investigation would extend to the UAE consulate and the top political leadership of the administration had raised serious doubts. There were intelligence reports that there had been a failure to collect many crucial pieces of evidence and that he had helped the accused destroy evidence by leaking information through intermediaries before the raid was conducted.
It is learnt that the BJP state leadership had approached the Union Finance Ministry several times with complaints that the investigation into the case was being sabotaged. They had alleged that the case was sabotaged due to an unholy collusion between some officials of the investigating agencies and some in the ruling party. Swapna Suresh had later revealed that a bribe of Rs 30 crore was taken to settle the gold smuggling case. It was in the backdrop of these allegations that the Intelligence Bureau conducted a detailed investigation and filed a report against Radhakrishnan. Such strict action against top officials of the ED itself is being seen as a move by the central government to restore the credibility of the force.
Apart from the gold smuggling case, similar allegations of collusion were levelled against him in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank fraud case. It is also strongly alleged that the investigation in the Karuvannur bank fraud case was not carried out on time despite strong evidence against the CPM leaders. His interest in continuing in Kochi as a Deputy Director despite being transferred to the Chennai Zonal Office as a Joint Director was mysterious. He was humbled by the serious discovery that by continuing in Kochi, he had leaked the investigation information and created loopholes for the accused to escape.
Despite the state government’s allegations that it is using central agencies for political poaching, the Centre’s readiness to expel ‘counterfeit money’ from its own agency will lead to major political discussions in the coming days. Political observers believe that the aim behind this move is also to ensure the credibility and transparency of central agencies before the upcoming assembly elections.
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