Karnataka: Rs 8 Crores Unaccounted Money Recovered from Government Company Chairman, Absconding
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 3: Causing a huge embarrassment to the Basavraj Bommai government, a BJP Member of the Karnataka state Assembly Madal Virupakshappa was forced to send his resignation as the chairman of a state-owned company and is allegedly absconding after he was named the principal accused in a corruption case unearthed by the state Lokayukta, officials said on Friday.
After the Lokayukta recovered an eye-popping mountain of unaccounted cash worth over ₹ eight crores in searches at his home and office and his bureaucrat son was caught accepting a bribe, the police have named Channagiri BJP MLA who is also chairman of the state-owned Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), which makes the famous Mysore Sandal Soap, and five others including his son as accused in the bribery case.
The seizure has caused a huge embarrassment for the party trying to woo voters for elections later this year. The anti-corruption wing of the Lokayukta – the state’s ombudsman – dug out ₹ 6 crore in cash at the MLA’s home and ₹ 1.75 crore from his office after his son Prashanth Madal was caught taking a bribe on Thursday.
According to sources, Virupakshappa stepped down on Friday morning as the scandal broke and is untraceable and has applied for a pre-arrest bail. The search went on till late in the night. His son is the chief accountant at Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
Based on a complaint filed by Shreyas Kashyap, partner in Chemixil Corporation, police registered the case where he alleged that Virupakshappa’s son Prashanth Madal demanded Rs 81 lakh for issuing a tender and related work at the behest of his father.
Soon after the FIR was registered, Virupakshappa sent to the Chief Minister his letter of resignation as chairman of the KS&DL. Besides Virupakshappa, the others named in the FIR are Prashanth; Surendra, accountant at Prashanth’s office; Siddesh, a relative of Prashanth; and Albery and Nicola, field workers at Karnataka Aromas Company.
During the investigation, searches were carried out throughout the night on the office and residential premises of the accused at Sanjaynagar, at houses at Shivananda Circle, on residential premises of the Dr Mahesh M, managing director of the KS&DL, on the office premises of the KS&DL and also in the home town of Virupakshappa.
Prashanth, a graduate of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru, was arrested allegedly while taking a bribe at his father’s office on Thursday. The case was booked under 7 (a) (b) (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On Thursday, Karnataka Lokayukta officers caught Prashanth while taking a bribe of ₹ 40 lakh and arrested him. At least three bags of cash were found at the office, which has also been seized, officials said. “The anti-corruption branch of Lokayukta yesterday caught Prashanth Madal, son of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa while taking a bribe of ₹ 40 lakh. Over ₹ 1.7 crore in cash was recovered from his office,” the Karnataka Lokayukta said.
The ombudsman said they had been tipped off by a complaint about Prashanth Madal, a 2008-batch Karnataka Administrative Services officer, demanding a ₹ 81-lakh payoff from a contractor for a deal for raw materials need to manufacture soap and other detergents. “A case was registered on the basis of which we laid the trap. Five persons have been arrested, including three people who had turned up with the bribe. [The role of the BJP MLA] is being investigated. There is no pressure from the government,” Lokayukta BS Patil said.
The sources said Bommai insisted on Virupakshappa’s resignation from his post, the raids having come a day before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state. But the absconding chairman alleged of some “conspiracy” against him. “There is some conspiracy against my family. I’m submitting resignation under moral responsibility as there is an allegation against me,” Virupakshappa said in his letter of resignation.
Even as Congress mounted an attack on the BJP over the arrest, Bommai launched a counter-attack on the Congress. As the Congress called the Bommai government the “most corrupt,” Bommai responded with threatening to reopen the corruption cases closed during the previous Congress regime. “We have re-established Lokayukta to curb corruption. During the Congress regime, with Lokayukta dissolved, a lot of cases were closed. We will investigate the cases which were closed. Lokayukta is an independent institution and our stand is clear. The institution will investigate independently, and we will not interfere in it,” he said.
