BJP MLA in bribery scandal still on run

NT Correspondent

Davangere / Bengaluru: BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, whose son Prashanth had been caught by the anti-corruption ombudsman accepting a bribe of Rs40 lakh, allegedly on the former’s behalf, is still absconding.

He is said to be consulting legal experts on what his next step should be. Virupakshappa had on Friday resigned as the chairman of the state-owned Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), which manufactures the famous Mysore Sandal soap but maintained he was innocent.

It was also surmised that he would approach the special court for elected representatives in Bengaluru seeking bail. On Friday, Virupakshappa’s house had been raided but Lokayukta sleuths had found CCTV cameras switched off since Wednesday, raising suspicions that it might have been done to move cash to another location.

Cops have recovered the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) regardless. They have also retrieved Rs16.5 lakh in cash but returned Rs1.5 lakh to the MLA’s wife Neelamma for everyday expenses. The police men also made a record of gold and silver jewellery and ornaments in possession of Virupakshappa’s wife.

The lawmaker’s son Prashanth, also a Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) chief accountant, is alleged to have been accepting the bribe on his father’s behalf on Thursday evening when he was apprehended. Karnataka Lokayukta said that they had received a complaint from a private party that they had been asked to pay a bribe to land a contract to supply raw materials to KSDL.

The bribe demanded for the same is supposed to have been in the range of Rs81 lakh. Lokayukta cops recovered Rs2.02 crore from Prashanth and another Rs6.10 crore from his residence in Bengaluru’s Sanjay Nagar. The accused, apart from four others have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days