The State government has ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar, who is presently lodged in Tihar jail. This will only add on to the troubles of the Congress leader who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case on September 3.
Sources said ED authorities have written to the State government informing that their investigation had revealed that Kanakapura MLA had violated the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and indulged in corruption. The ED authorities have neither mentioned any specific instance of corruption they have uncovered nor sought a probe. Acting on the letter, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa ordered a CBI probe against Mr. Shivakumar.
“It is an open-ended order with a broad scope for investigation,” a source said.
It is common for multiple Central agencies to take up investigations based on revelations of a probe by one agency, the source said. In fact, the trouble for Mr. Shivakumar began with searches by Income Tax authorities in August 2017. It was the I-T Department that brought the ED into the picture, tipping them off about the ₹8.6 crore unaccounted money found at four premises linked to the then Minister in New Delhi and other suspected hawala transactions. The ED probe has now led to the CBI probe, a senior official said.
Meanwhile, the CBI taking up a probe against him will only extend his stay in jail. Mr. Shivakumar has appealed in Delhi High Court against the order of a Delhi Special Court that dismissed his bail plea. With the CBI likely to register a fresh FIR, he is likely to be arrested and taken into custody for investigation. Even if he gets bail in the ED case, he will face arrest in a new case. The ED has only expanded its probe into the case.
Suresh grilled
D.K. Suresh, Bengaluru Rural MP and younger brother of Mr. Shivakumar, was grilled by the ED for several hours on Thursday. This comes days after Mr. Shivakumar’s daughter Aishwarya and his political protege Laxmi Hebbalkar were also questioned by the ED.
