Kochi, May 18 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan on Sunday alleged that a huge percentage of officials in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were "corrupt" and the agency was not doing the work it was created for, instead it was being used as a tool to attack political opponents of the Centre.

Satheesan's allegations came in response to reporters' query on a senior ED official being booked by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in a corruption case recently.

He further alleged that the ED sends notices to various people and then takes crores of money from them to settle the cases by using intermediaries.

"Such complaints are there against the ED across the country. I am not saying all ED officials are corrupt, but a huge percentage of them are. It is not doing the work it was set up for under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Not even one per cent of its cases are solved.

"It has been for a long time now only handling political cases and going after opponents of the ruling dispensation at the Centre. It is being used to harass the political opponents of the central government," the opposition leader told reporters here.

Satheesan further mentioned that the recent case against the ED official was the latest example and evidence of the corruption in the agency.

He also claimed that there was a CPI(M)-BJP nexus in Kerala as both sides were settling the various corruption cases against each other.

An ED officer, attached to the Kochi unit of the central agency, was booked as the first accused in the corruption case registered as per the complaint of a businessman, the VACB had said on Saturday.

Three people, including a chartered accountant, have already been arrested in the case for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs two crore from the businessman not to arraign him in an ED case.

As per the remand report submitted by the VACB before the court, the ED official is the key accused in the case.

The other accused were arrested on Friday, while the Kochi-based chartered accountant was arrested on Saturday, a senior VACB official had said.

The accused ED official is yet to be arrested. PTI HMP HMP ROH

Allegations of Enforcement Directorate corruption prompt vigilance probe after alleged bribery and arrests underpin claims of political misuse. Allegations that a substantial proportion of Enforcement Directorate officials engage in corrupt practices and misuse investigative powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act follow a Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau complaint naming an ED attached officer as key accused in an alleged bribery scheme in which intermediaries and a chartered accountant were arrested after a businessman reported demands to avoid arraignment; the bureau's remand report and pending criminal proceedings underpin claims of systemic corruption and political misuse of the agency.