After five days of questioning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar in the money laundering case.
A senior Congress leader was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi on Friday in connection with the Rs 7 crore money laundering case, officials familiar with the case said on condition of anonymity.
Officials said the ED will produce Shivakumar in a court on Wednesday to seek his custody. The Congress leader has denied any wrongdoing.
Shivakumar is the second important Congress leader to be arrested for alleged money laundering in a fortnight after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested former Union finance minister P Chidambaram in dramatic fashion on August 21 for a similar offence in the INX media case.
Reacting minutes after Shivakumar’s arrest, Congress dubbed the ED’s move as yet another attempt by the BJP government to distract the public from the sorry state of the economy. “We strongly condemn the high-handed tactics & vendetta politics being deployed against Congress leaders. The arrest of DK Shivakumar is yet another attempt by the govt to distract the public from their failed policies & the sorry state of the economy,” the tweet read.
The case against former Karnataka irrigation minister was filed last September and pertains to the seizure of cash from his New Delhi residence by the income-tax department during a raid in August 2017. The Karnataka high court on Thursday dismissed Shivakumar’s petition challenging the summons issued to him in the money-laundering case.
Last week, the Karnataka High Court dismissed Shivakumar’s petition seeking quashing summons issued by the ED.
“It is my duty (to appear)… I have to respect the law. We are lawmakers and law abiding citizens. They (ED) has summoned me… I don’t know why they have called me under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” news agency PTI quoted Shivakumar as saying before entering the ED office.
Before leaving for Delhi, Shivakumar held a press conference in Bengaluru and called the ED summons as being ‘politically motivated’, adding that he ‘was ready to face ‘any conspiracy’.
Former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah among others have condemned ED’s questioning of Shivakumar, calling it vindictive.
Congress leaders on Tuesday slammed a section of BJP leaders who backed the action by the ED against Shivakumar.
Sivakumar was shedding tears on Monday before entering the ED office in New Delhi expressing displeasure over the statements of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol and Health Minister B Sriramulu.
