Kumaraswamy meets D K Shivakumar in Tihar Jail

New Delhi, Oct 21: Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy met D K Shivakumar who is currently in the judicial custody in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

"Political issues are different and personal equation is different. This is my personal visit. He is facing political vengeance, I was here to give confidence to him. He is mentally very strong and will fight all this," Kumaraswamy told reporters after meeting the Congress leader.

Reportedly, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi is expected to meet incarcerated former minister D K Shivakumar in Tihar Jail today, sending out a clear message that the party is fully backing its Vokkaliga strongman from Karnataka.

Earlier, senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Anand Sharma had met D K Shivakumar.

Shivakumar, a seven-time MLA in Karnataka, was arrested by the ED on September 3 for the alleged offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Shivakumar's brother D K Suresh and daughter Aishwarya have also been questioned by the ED. The agency has also summoned Congress leader's mother and wife, apart from questioning other party leaders like MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar in the money-laundering case.

The 57-year old Congress leader is presently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody.

He has approached the high court challenging a trial court's order denying him bail in the case.

The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.

The case was based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax Department against them 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 has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of indulging in transactions involving huge amounts of unaccounted money on a regular basis through ''hawala'' channels with the help of three other accused.