Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress and the party's Mumbai city unit on Wednesday flayed the arrest of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram, calling it "political vendetta" and said the Centre was "relying on statements of "habitual liar" Indrani Mukerjea in the matter.

On the other hand, the party said, despite India's biggest bank loot happening under his watch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not answered a single legitimate question on the subject. "His silence on the entire saga raises serious questions about the role of the Narendra Modi government in the escape of (Punjab National Bank scam accused) Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi," Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said.

"It is condemnable that the BJP-led government will even manipulate a murder accused (Indrani Mukerjea) into levying random charges in exchange for leniency." He said while the National Democratic Alliance government promptly arrested Karti on the charge of receiving a bribe of Rs 10 lakh, "Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Choksi -- who looted Indian banks of more than Rs 32,000 crore -- were allowed to escape (from the country)." "This is indeed a new style of tackling corruption by the government," Nirupam said. Referring to Indrani Mukerjea, he alleged that she was found lying six times in court, married three times and her two marriages were kept secret from her third husband, and that she introduced her daughter as her younger sister and then murdered her. "How can the government rely on the statements of a person who is a lair and undergoing a court trial in the murder of her own daughter to go ahead and arrest Karti Chidambaram? This is nothing but an attempt to divert attention from its failures and for letting bank scamsters escape right from under their noses," Nirupam said.

Terming it "political vendetta" of the government, Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan said P. Chidambaram -- a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra -- "has been systematically exposing" the government and highlighting its anti-people policies for the last four years. "For highlighting the government's failures and scams, the government -- in its wisdom -- has decided to target and harass Chidambaram and his family members," he said. Chavan said the Congress will not be cowed down by such tactics and will continue its campaign to expose the government's inefficiency and scandals before the public. (IANS)