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Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday that that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was trying to tarnish the image of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and destabilise the Congress government in the state.
Speaking to reporters after staging a protest near Gandhi statue near Vidhana Soudha, he said, "ED officials are threatening a state government official to name Chief Minister and ministers in the Valmiki Development Corporation case. The ED is trying to tarnish the name of the Chief minister and destabilise the government." The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, ministers and MLAs from the Congress party participated in the protest against the ED. "As soon we found that officials have siphoned off funds in the Valmiki Development Corporation, we formed an SIT, which swung into action and recovered over 50% of the money from Telangana. The minister concerned has also resigned voluntarily to enable impartial probe. There is a provision to handover the case to the CBI but the ED has stepped in when the SIT investigation is still going on," he said. "The ED officials have threatened Social Welfare Department's MD Kallesh to name the Chief Minister in the case. The ED officials have threatened to put him in jail for 7 years if he doesn't name the CM. The threatened officials have lodged a complaint in the Wilson Garden police station against the ED in this regard. The police have filed an FIR against accused ED officials Mittal and Murali Kannan," he explained. "The BJP did not allow the Chief Minister to respond in the Assembly fearing that he would reveal scams during the BJP tenure. The former BJP MLC who was involved in the Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal Corporation has been arrested. The CAG report has unearthed a Rs 500 crore scam in the department headed by former BJP minister Ashwathnarayan. Scams have come to light in Kota Srinivasa Poojary's department too," he added. "The BJP is trying to target a sitting chief minister of Karnataka through ED. BJP has been targeting chief ministers of other states as we have all seen. Hence, we are protesting against the ED," he said. Asked if the government would arrest the accused ED officials, he said, "An FIR is filed, the police will take the necessary steps as per law. We have given them a free hand and we don't interfere in the work of the police." (ANI)
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