Congress's DK Shivakumar was arrested after 4 days of questioning by Enforcement Directorate (File photo)

Senior Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday evening in an alleged money laundering case, took a dig at the BJP immediately after his arrest, "congratulating" his friends in the ruling party for "finally being successful in their mission of arresting" him. Mr Shivakumar, who was arrested after four days of questioning, said he is "a victim of BJP's politics of vengeance and vendetta".

"I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The IT and ED cases against me are politically motivated and I am a victim of BJP's politics of vengeance and vendetta," Mr Shivakumar tweeted.

The 57-year-old Congress leader also assured the workers of the party and his supporters that he had not done anything illegal.

I appeal to my party cadre, supporters and well-wishers to not be disheartened as I have done nothing illegal.



I have full faith in God & in our country's Judiciary and am very confident that I will emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics. — DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) September 3, 2019

Mr Shivakumar, who has been a top troubleshooter for the Congress, says the action by the central agency against him comes for playing an instrumental role in ensuring the safe stay of Gujarat Congress MLAs at a Karnataka resort during the Rajya Sabha polls in 2017, amid allegations that the BJP was trying to poach them.

During that time, the Income Tax department had conducted raids on Mr Shivakumar. Sources said they had recovered more than Rs. 300 crore in "undisclosed income". The Enforcement Directorate moved in soon after.

In September, last year, the Enforcement Directorate had registered the money laundering case against Mr Shivakumar, based on a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax department last year.

The Income Tax department has accused Mr Shivakumar and an associate of his of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through ''hawala'' channels with the help of three other accused.

With inputs from PTI