Fo rmer Minister and Congress troubleshooter D.K. Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi on Tuesday in connection with a money-laundering case. This came after about 30 hou rs of intense questioning of the leader over four days.
It is alleged that Mr. Shivakumar 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 is also planning to summon some witnesses for recording their statements under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, said an official. Once-coalition partners, Opposition Congress and JD(S), have come together in support of the arrested leader and termed it “political vendetta” by the BJP. Mr. Shivakumar tweeted, “I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The I-T and ED cases against me are politically motivated and I am a victim of BJP’s politics of vengeance and vendetta.”
Shivakumar’s appeal
Soon after the arrest, protests broke out in several parts of the State, particularly in Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagaram districts, which are the stronghold of the former Minister. Protests were particularly intense in Kanakapura, his constituency, and more are expected on Wednesday.
Appealing to his party cadre, 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 both legally and politically against “this vendetta politics”.
To special court
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.
The agency had first summoned the Congress leader on August 30 after the Karnataka High Court turned down his petition challenging the earlier summons served on him in January and February.
Before he joined the investigation, Mr. Shivakumar had said that although the sudden scheduling by ED was mala fide , he believed in the rule of law and would, therefore, fully cooperate with the agency.
He said on Twitter: “I-T raid on me was politically motivated for hosting Gujarat Congress MLAs. As a loyal soldier of Congress & a responsible politician, I did what party asked me to do, for which I am being targeted. I have full faith in legal systems & will face this legally as well as politically.”
Case background
The ED probe is based on a charge sheet filed last year by the Income Tax Department alleging tax evasion and hawala transactions.
The department had searched the premises allegedly linked to Mr. Shivakumar in August 2017 and found “unaccounted” cash. In its charge sheet, the I-T Department had accused him of transferring huge amounts of cash through the “hawala” channel and evading tax.
Moments after the ED arrested Mr. Shivakumar, the Congress on Tuesday alleged that the move was to divert attention from economic issues and called it an ‘illegal arrest’.
“The illegal arrests of D.K. Shivakumar is one such instance. He is innocent and there is not an iota of evidence and it is only to draw the attention away from complete economic mismanagement and anarchy that such punitive action is being taken in a revengeful manner. We will fight the arrest legally as well as people’s court,” said Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
