Congress leaders and workers on Wednesday staged protest in various parts of the country including Bangalore, Mysuru, Ramnagara and Delhi against the arrest of party leader DK Shivakumar by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case.
Protests by Congress workers were witnessed in different district of Karnataka as the party had called for a statewide protest today.
"Shivakumar was available for questioning the entire time. He was cooperating. If the ED has evidence they should have prosecuted him. It is clear that this is deliberately being done. We all have seen the Income Tax raids on Congress leaders before the assembly and parliamentary election," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao said while addressing protestors in Bengaluru.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of arresting Shivakumar to divert the public's attention from the GDP.
"The economy is in shambles and people are losing jobs. That is why the BJP is doing this to divert the attention of the people from the economy," Rao said.
He said that the central government as targeting the opposition leader.
"We are living in an authoritarian state and a fascist government is ruling the country," Rao added.
In Mysuru, Congress workers led by former lawmaker Ramesh Bandi Siddegowda protested at Srirangapatna against the arrest of their party leader. Protests were also witnessed in Channapattan area of Ramanagara district.
Meanwhile, a group of Congress workers also gathered outside RML hospital in Delhi and protested against the arrest of Shivakumar. Party leader KC Venugopal and MP DK Suresh also reached the hospital.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Shivakumar Tuesday evening.
On August 29, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed his petition challenging the summons issued by the ED in December 2018. Later that night, he was summoned by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was asked to appear before it on August 30, following which he was interrogated for four days.
The 57-year-old leader had earlier asserted that he had not done anything wrong and will fully cooperate with the investigating agency.
( With inputs from ANI )