Senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.
DK Shivakumar, former Karnataka minister and senior Congress leader, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe agency had been grilling Shivakumar since five days in a money laundering case. His party leaders, however, were crying foul saying their colleague was a victim of vendetta politics, a charge rejected by the BJP leaders.
The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar and others based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department in a court here for alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.
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Shivakumar had to appear before the agency after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his petition challenging the summons issued to him by the ED.
Shivakumar had denied any wrongdoing and had said that his being "instrumental role" in ensuring safe stay of Gujarat Congress MLAs in a Karnataka resort during the Rajya Sabha polls in 2017, amid allegations that the BJP was trying to poach them, was the reason for the I-T searches and subsequent ED action against him.
The central agency had in September last year registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.
The ED case has been filed based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against him last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.
The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.
Who is DK Shivakumar:
Known as Congress' troubleshooter in Karnataka, DK Shivakumar is facing the toughest period of his political career. He is an all-weather man for the Congress. Shivakumar has been a fixture in state politics ever since his entry into the state assembly 30 years ago in 1989. DK Shivakumar won his first assembly election in 1989 from Sathanur in Kanakapura by defeating HD Deve Gowda. In 1990, Shivakumar was made a junior minister with Prisons and Homeguards portfolio.
In 1999, Shivakumar was made the Urban Development minister under the chief ministership of SM Krishna. He fought against Deve Gowda in 2002 Lok Sabha bypolls but lost. He, however, defeated Gowda in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls by fielding a journalist.
