Tamil Nadu Sees 23% Drop In Anti-Corruption Trap Cases In 2025-26

Chennai: Corruption enquiries and investigations registered by Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Vigilance and AntiCorruption (DVAC) declined by 6% in 2025-26, the final year of the DMK government’s five-year term, according to agency data. DVAC registered 638 enquiries and investigations against 681 in 2024-25, when cases had increased by 48% over the previous year.

Anti-corruption was a key election plank of TVK founder-president C Joseph Vijay, who became Chief Minister in April 2026. DVAC data shows that traps, operations to catch government officials accepting bribes, declined by 23%, from 199 to 153. The incumbent TVK government has targeted such corruption, including bribes paid through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Regular Cases (RC), involving registration of FIRs following enquiries, increased from 182 to 226.

Preliminary Enquiries (PE) declined from 171 to 126, while Detailed Enquiries (DE) rose from 129 to 133. Anti-corruption activist and Arappor Iyakkam convenor Jayaram Venkatesan said the decline in traps indicated that DVAC had not actively targeted corruption in government offices during the DMK’s final year. He said fewer preliminary enquiries suggested fresh complaints were not taken seriously, while increased regular cases reflected earlier complaints being converted into FIRs.

Venkatesan expects cases to increase in 2026-27 under the TVK government. He urged DVAC to improve investigation quality rather than focus solely on numbers, calling for additional manpower and specialists in digital forensics, accountancy and engineering to tackle evolving corruption methods