Bengaluru, 25 April

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday raided premises linked to Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni in Karnataka amid allegations linking him to a woman accused of 'cheating' a jeweller to the tune of crores of rupees.

Addressing reporters here, Kulkarni said the ED is probing a case against him and alleged that he was being harassed by the agency for the past one month.

'There should be some limit to troubling a person. It pains me to see people misusing the power they have… They want to finish me off politically and cut me off from people,' he said.

To a question whether there had been any financial dealings between him and alleged con woman Aishwarya Gowda, he denied it and said if it existed then it can be traced easily.

Criticising the ED action, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called it 'political vendetta.'

'The ED raids are the outcome of politics of vengeance. Centre carries out this kind of raids,' he told media in Chamarajanagar.

He sought to know why the ED never raided properties owned by BJP leaders.

'Are the BJP leaders upright?' he asked.

Reacting to the ED raid, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused central investigating agencies like the ED of targeting only leaders belonging to the non-BJP parties. BJP leaders who were also having issues related to ED violations, being spared, he said.