Facing heat from the anti-corruption sect of Lokayukta, Karnataka BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa has abdicated as the president of Karnataka detergents and cleansers Limited, the manufacturer of Mysore Sandal Soap. Madal Virupakshappa is under fire after his son was caught accepting a Rs 40 lakh fix, and Rs 6 crore in cash was recovered from his home by Lokayukta officers.
Virupakshappa, the MLA from Channagiri in the Davanagere quarter, is the president of the state-owned Karnataka detergents and cleansers Limited. His son, Prashanth Madal, is the principal accountant at Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). Prashanth Madal was caught on camera on Thursday accepting a Rs 40 lakh fix at the KSDL headquarters. He was taken into guardianship. Following that, Virupakshappa’s home and plant were searched by the Karnataka government’s anti-corruption watchdog. The home of the BJP MLA was where the Lokayukta discovered a sizable sum of money.
An aggregate of Rs1.7 crore and Rs 6 crore were taken from the KSDL office and Virupakshappa’s home, independently. The Legislator will presumably be called in for questioning by the anti-corruption watchdog as well. In his letter of abdication, Madal Virupakshappa denied the allegations against him. “ I’ve no link to the Lokayukta raid. This is a conspiracy against me and my family. ” According to Lokayukta officers, a complaint was registered by a man against Prashanth on Thursday morning criminating him of taking backhanders.
Consequently, the Lokayukta officers laid a trap and caught Prashanth red-handed when he was accepting a fix of Rs 40 lakh. A functionary from Lokayukta said, “We conducted quests at his office and set up Rs1.7 crore. We suspect Prashanth was entering backhanders on behalf of his father. We’re probing the source of the money we set up at his office.” After the matter came to light, the opposition Congress launched a cutting attack on the BJP, pertaining to it as the “Bhrasht Janta Party”.
