Senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar was questioned for more than nine hours on the second day of his interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case against him.
Shivakumar, a former minister and chief troubleshooter for Karnataka Congress, reached the ED office around 11 AM and was questioned till around 8:30 PM. He has been summoned again on Monday 11 AM.
He was quizzed by the investigators for about five hours on Friday and was summoned for further questioning on Saturday.
Accompanied by his brother and Congress MP D K Suresh to the ED office, Shivakumar reiterated in the morning that he would cooperate with the agency in the investigation.
"I requested the ED to give me some more time since I have to be present in my place to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi on Monday and Tuesday. However, they refused my request and asked me to appear again on Monday. I will consult my lawyers on the next course of action. I will consult them whether to stay in Delhi or not," Shivakumar told reporters after the questioning.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party strongly condemn the "highhanded tactics and illegal processes" being deployed against Shivakumar.
His questioning came as he failed to secure any relief from Karnataka High Court where he first sought quashing of his summons, following which the ED issued a fresh summons to him to appear before it on Friday. He again approached the court seeking protection from arrest, his plea was not allowed following which he appeared before the agency at 6:30 PM on Friday.
Last September, the ED had registered a case against Shivakumar as well as Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan, and his associates Narayan, S K Sharma and N Rajendra.
The ED case was based on a charge sheet 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 IT Department had also seized unaccounted money worth around Rs 8.59 crore from him.
The IT Department had then accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting a huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with help of three other accused.
It had claimed that Shivakumar had set up "an extensive network" of persons and premises across Delhi and Bengaluru in order to transport and utilise unaccounted cash.
