Senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar was questioned for more than nine hours on the second day of his interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case against him on Saturday.
Shivakumar, a former minister and chief trouble-shooter for Congress, reached the ED office around 11 am and was questioned till around 8:30 pm. He has been summoned again at 11 am on Monday.
He was quizzed by the investigators for about five hours on Friday and was summoned for further questioning on Saturday.
Accompanied by his brother and Congress MP D K Suresh to the ED office, Shivakumar reiterated in the morning that he would cooperate with the agency in the investigation.
"I requested the ED to give me some more time since I have to be present in my place to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi on Monday and Tuesday. However, they turned down my request and asked me to appear again on Monday. I will consult my lawyers on the next course of action. I will consult them on whether to stay in Delhi or not," Shivakumar told reporters after the questioning.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party strongly condemned the "highhanded tactics and illegal processes" being adopted against Shivakumar.
His questioning came as he failed to secure any relief from the Karnataka High Court, where he first sought quashing of his summons.
Last September, the ED had registered a case against Shivakumar as well as Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and his associates Narayan, S K Sharma and N Rajendra.
The case was based on a charge sheet filed by the Income Tax Department against him last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and Hawala transactions worth crores of rupees. The I-T department had also seized unaccounted money worth Rs 8.59 crore from him.
The I-T department had then accused Shivakumar and Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through Hawala channels, with the help of three other accused.
It had claimed that Shivakumar had set up "an extensive network" of persons and premises across Delhi and Bengaluru to transport and utilise unaccounted cash.