Shivakumar slams ED for harassing him and D K Suresh over donations to National Herald

Bengaluru

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday strongly condemned the Enforcement Directorate’s summons issued to him and his brother, D K Suresh, calling it “harassment” for extending donations to National Herald and Young Indian.

Speaking to reporters outside his residence in Sadashivanagar, Shivakumar said, “summons have been issued for having donated to National Herald and Young India. This is harassment. I strongly condemn this.”

He said that despite fully cooperating with all investigations from the beginning, the ED had unexpectedly filed a chargesheet. “There is no secrecy from our end. Even then, why was a chargesheet filed? There was no need for police to register a case. We will fight this legally in court,” he said.

Information sought by December 19

The DyCM said Delhi Police had instructed him and his brother to provide information by December 19. “We had already responded earlier. Issuing fresh summons now is shocking,” he said.

Shivakumar alleged that the target of the probe was to trouble those who support Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “We pay our taxes; we donate our money to whom we choose. Even a PMLA case was filed against us for harassment. What happened after that? The intention is to harass supporters of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and create confusion,” he claimed.

He defended the donations made to the Congress-linked organisations. “National Herald and Young India are institutions of our Congress Party. When they were in difficulty, we and many others helped through our trusts,” he said.

Shivakumar said notices were served to him and Suresh on Friday. “He had donated some money during his tenure as MP. We will examine the notice in detail and respond legally,” he added.