Sonia Gandhi likely to meet Shivakumar at Tihar Jail today

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi is likely to meet senior party leader DK Shivkumar at the Tihar Jail today, said sources. Shivakumar was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.

This will be Gandhi’s second visit to the Tihar Jail in the last one month. On September 23, Gandhi, along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, had visited the prison to meet another jailed leader P Chidambaram.

Shivakumar was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on September 3, officials had said, adding that he was required to be put through custodial interrogation.

Also read | Setback for Shivakumar as court extends his ED custody till Sept 17

Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj had earlier said that as per the investigation, Shivakumar possessed over ₹200 crore black money and ₹800 crore worth illegal property.

His arrest was politicised by the opposition parties in Karnataka, the Congress and the JD(S), which had accused the ruling BJP of playing vendetta politics. The Vokkaliga community, to which Shivakumar belongs to, had also organised a mass rally last month against his protest.

A day after his arrest, sporadic incidents of violence were also reported in the Vokkaliga belt in Ramanagara and Kanakapura, the home turf of the senior Karnataka Congress leader.

Also read | Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh meet Chidambaram at Tihar