Congress troubleshooter DK Shivakumar has been sent to ED's custody till September 13 by the Rouse Avenue Court, New Delhi. DK Shivakumar, who was admitted in RML Hospital after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, was produced before the court around 4pm to seek his custody.

The ED asked for 14 days of police custody on grounds that there is a reason to believe that accused is guilty of laundering, they need to unearth modus operandi, ascertain known- unknown properties of him and his family members of which they are beneficial owners. ED also told the court that they need to ascertain the source of money and the proceeds of crime.

The financial probe agency alleged that Shivakumar is found giving evasive replies and remained non-cooperative during the investigation.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing DK Shivakumar, however, objected to ED's demand of 14 days custody claiming ED is behaving like a dog tail and the state is the dog. The tail cannot stand alone without the dog. "AMS-- they have asked for 14 days thinking that if they ask for stars they will get the moon. If they ask for the moon they will get the earth. They have already taken 5 days of questioning, now they want the entire 14 days," Singhvi argued before the court.

The court however granted DK Shivakumar to police custody till September 13.

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar, who was admitted to RML hospital on Tuesday late evening after a complaint of uneasiness and restlessness.

After being placed under arrest, DK Shivakumar had tweeted that, "I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The IT and ED cases against me are politically motivated and I am a victim of BJP's politics of vengeance and vendetta."

Huge protests by his supporters in New Delhi and Banglore was seen. Shivakumar, in a tweet seemed confident about his victory and said, "I appeal to my party cadre, supporters and well-wishers to not be disheartened as I have done nothing illegal. I have full faith in God & in our country's Judiciary and am very confident that I will emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics."

The arrest of Shivakumar is a huge setback for the grand old party especially with the former finance minister P Chidambaram also in CBI custody.

Shivakumar was being interrogated for four days before being arrested by ED.

Before joining the investigation, the Karnataka leader had told the media that he is a law-abiding citizen and that he was unaware of why he was summoned by the agency. He further said, "I have not done anything wrong. I will answer them."

The probe agency maintained that DK Shivakumar was summoned to join the investigation first in January and then in February 2019. In August, when he was again asked to appear before the agency, Shivakumar moved the Karnataka High Court. However, when no relief was granted, he joined the investigation on 30th August.

The financial probe agency started its investigation in September 2018 based on a charge sheet filed by Income Tax department against DK Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, who is a close associate and employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.

According to sources, the Income Tax department during their investigation found cross-border hawala transaction along with a network of people, and premises across Delhi and Bengaluru to transport and utilise the unaccounted cash.

It has been also alleged that DK Shivakumar and his daughter had travelled to Singapore for financial investment in July 2017. The IT department claimed that during the investigation, they had detected an unaccounted wealth of Rs 429 crore linked to the Congress troubleshooter.

DK Shivakumar was raided by the Income Tax department in 2017. According to investigative agencies, Rs 8.5 crore was found and seized during raids in four premises of Delhi which were directly linked to Shivakumar. The IT department also came across three flats purchased in Delhi's upscale Safdarjung Enclave also allegedly