Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 17 : Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday lashed out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over summons issued against former Congress leader DK Suresh and said that they should raid all 136 party MLAs in the state instead of "summoning a few".
"We don't expect anything different from the ED. Instead of summoning a few MLAs, they might as well raid all 136 Congress MLAs. This is becoming a joke. We all know what the ED is about, so all of us have to be prepared whether they (ED or IT) come to our houses," Rao told ANI.
Labelling the ED's action as "vindictive politics," the Karnataka Minister alleged that the previous government also tried to "use" investigative agencies for political purposes. However, he added that such uses have become "open and blatant."
"This is vindictive politics. Earlier also, every government tried to use some agency for political purposes, but now it has become open and blatant--there's no faith left," Rao said.
Earlier in the day, ED summoned former Congress MP DK Suresh for questioning in connection with an alleged fraud case involving Aishwarya Gowda.
Gowda, who claimed to be Suresh's sister, was arrested by the ED on April 24 for her alleged involvement in a money laundering case.
The ED officials had initially asked Suresh to appear at their office on Thursday, June 19, at 11 AM, but Suresh has requested to defer his appearance to June 23.
Earlier, the probe agency stated that its officials had conducted searches at 14 locations related to the accused woman, Aishwarya Gowda and her accomplices and seized various incriminating materials valued at approximately Rs 2.25 crore.
In a post on X dated April 26, the probe agency posted, "ED Bengaluru has arrested Ms Aishwarya Gowda, under PMLA, 2002, on April 24, for being found involved in the offence of money laundering. After the arrest, she was produced before the Special Court (PMLA), and the Court was pleased to grant ED custody of the accused for 14 days."
The ED further mentioned that the searches, carried out on April 24 and 25 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, led to the seizure of incriminating documents, digital devices, and cash.
"ED also conducted search operations at 14 locations related to Aishwarya Gowda and her accomplices on April 24 and 25, 2025, under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002. During the search operations, various incriminating documents, digital devices, and cash to the tune of approximately Rs 2.25 crore have been found and seized," the post further read.
According to reports, the ED arrested Aishwarya Gowda for allegedly engaging in money laundering through multiple cases of swindling wealthy individuals in Karnataka by exploiting connections to top political leaders in the state.
Gowda allegedly posed as the sister of Karnataka Congress leader DK Suresh and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to gain access to wealthy doctors and businessmen. Last year, the Bengaluru police booked her in several cases of cheating.