Is BJP targeting DK Shivakumar for refusing to join the saffron party?

DK Shivakumar's brother and Bengaluru Rural MP, DK Suresh, has claimed that the Congress troubleshooter is going through all the clout because he refused to join the saffron squad.

DK Suresh said that former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his brother are being targeted because they are an obstruction for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in South India. He said that even though DK Shivakumar is cooperating with the investigating officials, he is being subjected to torture by the Enforcement Department (ED).

"We are not allowed to meet him. The ED officers are acting at the behest of the BJP leaders, charged Suresh, who returned to his constituency from Delhi after a month," Deccan Herald quoted Suresh as saying.

Congress MLC CM Lingappa has filed a complaint against ED with the Karnataka Human Rights Commission (KSHRC), claiming that third-degree methods are being used on Shivakumar. He said that the former minister is being treated like a Pakistani terrorist as the central agency is questioning him till late night and not providing him with adequate facilities, including medicine.

According to reports, Lingappa has sought action against the ED investigating officer, Monica Sharma, and others for the alleged ill-treatment of Shivakumar. The Congress party has already termed the arrest of the senior Congress leaders as vendetta politics by the saffron party.

Even though a Delhi special court dismissed the bail application of the Karnataka Congress strongman, Delhi High Court has decided to hear his bail petition on Monday (September 30). Shivakumar, who was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case is currently kept in Tihar Jail.

Delhi HC Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, who is hearing Chidambaram's bail plea in the INX Media case, will hear Shivakumar's appeal too.