National Herald case: ED again summons Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar
New Delhi, Oct 2: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar for questioning in its ongoing money laundering probe into the operations of the Congress party-owned National Herald newspaper, official sources said.
He has been asked to depose before the federal investigative agency on October 7 in Delhi, they said.
The 60-year-old former cabinet minister was last questioned by the federal agency on September 19 in the national capital in another money laundering case linked to alleged possession of disproportionate assets.
The latest summons comes at a time when the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' of the Congress party, led by its leader Rahul Gandhi, entered Karnataka on Friday, September 30, and will be in the state for 21 days.
Shivakumar is involved in the conduct of this leg of the yatra.
While exiting the ED office after his questioning last month, he had told the waiting mediapersons that he has been charge-sheeted by the agency in one money laundering case but he does not know what is the new case (disproportionate assets) against him.
"Surprisingly, they (ED officials) have asked me about the payment from one of my trusts from me and my brother to Young Indian," he had told reporters.
Young Indian is the company that owns the news organisation.
Shivakumar also said he has sought more time from the agency to furnish details about his assets and liabilities to them.
The former Karnataka minister said he believed in the "law system" and knew that he will get justice.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her MP son Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal have been questioned by the ED over the last few months in the National Herald money laundering case.
The agency has also issued summons to a number of Congress leaders from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for questioning in the Herald after it was found that they allegedly made payments to Young Indian.
Their depositions are slated between October 3-10 at the ED office in Delhi, sources said.
Shivakumar was arrested by the agency on September 3, 2019 following multiple rounds of questioning in a case that emerged from an Income tax department action against him. The Delhi High Court had granted him bail in October that year.
In May this year, the agency filed a charge sheet against him and some others linked to him in this case.
The case was registered after taking cognisance of a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them in 2018 before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.
The I-T department has accused Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief, and his alleged associates of transporting huge amounts of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.
The Kanakapura MLA played an instrumental role in ensuring the safe stay of Gujarat Congress MLAs in a Karnataka resort during the Rajya Sabha polls in 2017 amid allegations that the BJP was trying to poach them.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, the late Ahmed Patel, had fought the Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat in 2017 and Shivakumar had hosted 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs at the resort to keep the flock together.
The ED had questioned his daughter Aishwarya too in this case after she was summoned to appear in Delhi.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
