The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar in connection with a money laundering case.
Soon after his arrest, the former Karnataka Minister tweeted: “I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The IT and ED cases against me are politically motivated and I am a victim of BJP’s politics of vengeance and vendetta.”
Appealing to his party workers, supporters and well-wishers not to be disheartened as he had “done nothing illegal”, Mr. Shivakumar said he was confident that he would emerge victorious against “this vendetta politics.”
He was arrested after about 30 hours of questioning since August 30.
On Tuesday, the Congress leader reached the ED office around noon to join the fourth round of questioning.
“He was placed under arrest in the evening. He will be produced before a special court on Wednesday,” said an agency official.
It is alleged that he was not able to explain the source of several transactions under scrutiny. He was confronted with the evidence of suspect financial dealings gathered by the ED.
The ED probe is based on a charge sheet filed last year by the Income-Tax Department alleging tax evasion and hawala transactions.
Terming the arrest illegal, the Congress said the move was to divert attention from economic issues.
