Shivakumar case: K'taka co-op bank president appears before ED

Karnataka State Apex Cooperative Bank President K N Rajanna on Wednesday appeared before the ED in connection with the money laundering case filed against former state minister D K Shivakumar, officials said.

They said Rajanna, a senior Congress leader of the state and a former MLA, will be questioned with regard to multi-crore loans given by the bank to a sugar company linked to Shivakumar some years back.

Rajanna's statememt will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and 'certain' links of him with Shivakumar will be investigated, agency sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate, in the past, has grilled a number of people and associates of Shivakumar including his daughter Aisshwarya, 23, and Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar.

Shivakumar, a former Karnataka cabinet minister, was arrested by the ED on September 3 here and is in the agency's custody.

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

The criminal case was filed based on an Income Tax Department charge sheet filed against Shivakumar and others before a court in Bengaluru for alleged tax evasion and hawala dealings.