'I Congratulate My BJP Friends' Tweets DK Shivakumar, Says His Arrest Is Politically Motivated

I am a victim of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s politics of vengeance and vendetta, D K Shivakumar, the Congress MLA and chief troubleshooter in Karnataka, tweeted minutes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in a money laundering case on Tuesday.

The ED had been questioning the sitting MLA from Kanakapura constituency for the past five days, and the agency said the senior Congress leader was not cooperating in the investigation.

Shivakumar, however, maintains that the cases against him are "politically motivated", and that he will "emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics".

He reposed "full faith in God and judiciary" and said he had done "nothing illegal".

"I appeal to my party cadre, supporters and well-wishers to not be disheartened as I have done nothing illegal," read one of the tweets.

Another tweet read: "I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me."

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.

— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) September 3, 2019

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 & in our country's Judiciary and am very confident that I will emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics.

— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) September 3, 2019

 Earlier, the officials said the leader was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Congress leader needs to be put through custodial interrogation and hence was arrested, they said, according to news agency PTI.

Shivakumar will be produced before a court on Wednesday by the ED to seek his custody, they said.

The central agency had in September 2018 registered a money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department in a court for alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.

The Congress immediately reacted to Shivakumar's arrest, calling it "the high-handed tactics & vendetta politics being deployed" against its 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," the party tweeted.

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

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 3, 2019