All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) has reacted to the arrest of Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case. DK Shivakumar was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PLMA) on September 3. AIMC called the arrest as an “ugly face” of political vendetta.

All India Mahila Congress condemned DK Shivakumar's arrest

AIMC took to Twitter to criticize the BJP Government, “The arrest of #DKShivakumar is an ugly face of political vendetta. While he was cooperating all the time with IT officials, this cowardly act shows the desperation of @BJP4India. We condemn this brazen attempt by govt to silence anyone who raises their voice.”, it said.

READ | D K Shivakumar arrested by ED under money-laundering charges

DK Shivakumar was arrested as he was not cooperating with the authorities, as per Enforcement Directorate (ED) sources. Shivakumar was questioned by the ED for the fourth consecutive day in connection to a money-laundering case. He was first summoned by the ED on August 30.

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Congress condemns arrest of DK Shivakumar, calls it political vendetta

The Congress party has accused the Government of deploying high-end tactics and vendetta politics against its leaders. “We strongly condemn the high-handed tactics & vendetta politics being deployed against Congress leaders. The arrest of Shri @DKShivakumar is yet another attempt by the govt to distract the public from their failed policies & the sorry state of the economy. #BJPVendettaPolitics.”, tweeted the Congress from its official handle.

READ | DK Shivakumar appears before ED for 2nd day in PMLA case

Shivakumar has been accused of money laundering  

According to officials, Shivakumar was placed under arrest under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and needs to be put through custodial interrogation and hence was arrested, they said. The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah (an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi), and others. It was based on a chargesheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income-Tax Department against Shivakumar last year before a special court in Bengaluru, on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores. Shivakumar and his associate SK Sharma were accused by the Income Tax department of transporting a big amount of unaccounted tax through 'hawala' channels. He had reportedly done this with the help of three other accused in the case.

READ | Karnataka High Court rejects DK Shivakumar's plea against ED summons