ED Official Ravi Tiwari Transferred from Jalandhar to Chennai Amid Speculation

Senior Enforcement Directorate (ED) official Ravi Tiwari was on Thursday transferred from Jalandhar to Chennai, continuing in his role as additional director, but now with responsibility for Tamil Nadu as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry, according to sources at the agency’s headquarters in Delhi. While the decision has sparked intense speculation—particularly because it comes a day after the ED issued summons to former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder Singh in a long-running Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) probe —senior agency officials insisted the transfer reflects routine tenure norms rather than any reaction to political developments. Tiwari, a 2009-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who has been with the ED for nearly four and a half years, was posted to Jalandhar in September 2023. A senior official at the ED’s Delhi headquarters said that a three-year tenure at one posting is generally considered a full cycle for an officer of his rank, and that Tiwari was due for rotation irrespective of ongoing cases. “This is not a punitive posting,” the official said, stressing that the Chennai role is significant, given that elections are approaching in Tamil Nadu later this year. Despite official dismissal of political linkages, the timing has raised questions among political circles and media commentators because it followed the ED’s summons to Amarinder Singh and his son. The FEMA investigation dates back to 2016 but has resurfaced this month with fresh notices issued from the Jalandhar office. Those notices required Raninder to appear for questioning on February 12 and Captain Amarinder on February 13, although the former failed to appear and the latter cited knee surgery as a reason for non-attendance. During his tenure in Jalandhar, Tiwari steered numerous high-profile probes and actions. Among the major investigations overseen by the ED’s Jalandhar wing while he was in charge were: * The ED provisionally attached assets worth ₹19.10 crore in connection with their probe into money laundering allegedly involving Vuenow Group of Companies. The total value of assets attached or frozen exceeds ₹270.94 crore. * ₹ The ED attached bank accounts worth ₹21 crore belonging to Dr Amit Bansal, his family members, and drug de-addiction centres operated by him. The action was part of a money laundering probe into alleged diversion of prescription drugs and illegal financial transactions linked to 22 private de-addiction centres across Punjab. * The ED seized immovable properties worth ₹22.02 crore belonging to M/s Rana Sugars Ltd, owned by Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh and his son Inder Partap Singh. The probe was initiated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act over alleged violations related to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts. * The ED provisionally attached immovable property worth ₹53.64 lakh belonging to Sukhwinder Singh, then range forest officer of Budhlada Forest Range. The probe is linked to a forest scam. * Bank fraud and money-laundering case involving Tara Corporation, with attachment of immovable assets worth over ₹35 crore. Then MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra was arrested.