New Delhi: Former Karnataka minister and senior Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday slammed the BJP government over his arrest in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate saying he was a victim of "vendetta politics" and that the Income Tax and the ED cases against him were "politically motivated".
Soon after his arrest, Shivakumar in a series of tweets attacked the BJP and said, "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," he said. Shivakumar was arrested on Tuesday evening by the financial probe agency after questioning him on the fourth day in connection with a money laundering case that the agency had registered in September last year.
The ED has filed a case on the basis of the I-T Department chargesheet. Shivakumar also appealed to his party supporters to remain calm and not get disheartened. "I appeal to my party cadre, supporters and well-wishers to not be disheartened as I have done nothing illegal. I have full faith in God and in our country's judiciary and am very confident that I will emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics," he said.
Shivakumar has been on the radar of the Income Tax Department and the ED since demonetisation in 2016. An Income Tax search at his New Delhi flat on August 2, 2017 led to seizure of unaccounted cash worth Rs 8.59 crore. Thereafter, the Income Tax Department lodged cases against the Congress leader and his four other associates under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Sections 120(B), 193 and 199 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On Friday, Shivakumar deposed before the ED for the first time after the Karnataka High Court rejected his petition for interim protection from arrest by the agency. He was arrested by the ED after it questioned him for over 29 hours in four days since Friday evening and he will be produced before a Delhi court on Wednesday.
