Karnataka BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa to face probe into disproportionate assets

The Lokayukta police will be looking at answers for the source of Rs 6.10 crore of cash that was found in the bedroom of MLA Virupakshappa during a raid after his son Prashant Madal was caught red-handed while collecting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a supplier of raw materials to a state-run soap factory, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL), that was headed by the MLA, sources said.

The Lokayukta police will also be looking at the sources of income of the MLA that has led to the acquisition of nearly 125 acres of land in recent times by the MLA in his home district of Davangere in central Karnataka.

“The Rs 6.10 crore that was seized involves a case of disproportionate assets. The purchase of 125 acres of land has to be explained and Income-Tax returns have to be verified. This process is underway,” the police said.

Virupakshappa, who is a close associate of the former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa, is accused of directing a supplier of raw materials to KSDL to meet his son for clearances for supply contracts.

The MLA’s son Prashant Madal, a chief financial officer in the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, has been arrested by the Lokayukta police along with five others, including an accountant and two field workers of firms supplying raw materials to KSDL.

The Karnataka High Court Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to the MLA on the grounds that he should surrender before the Lokayukta police within 48 hours. Virupakshappa had celebrated the anticipatory bail with great fanfare in his Channagiri constituency.

After getting the anticipatory bail, the BJP MLA claimed that the Rs 6.10 crore found in his bedroom was linked to his arecanut cultivation business on nearly 125 acres of land held by him and his family members.

Incidentally, Virupakshappa declared personal ownership of only 12 acres of land valued at Rs 50 lakh when he first contested assembly polls from the Channagiri constituency in 2008. In 2013 he declared immovable assets of 12 acres valued at Rs 80 lakh and in 2018 he declared ownership of nearly 20 acres of land valued at Rs 1.35 crore. He declared a total wealth of Rs 1.79 crore in 2013 and Rs 5.73 crore in 2018.

Associates of Virupakshappa have reportedly claimed to the police that money seized from the house of the BJP MLA was part of revenues that were obtained from the sale of arecanut from hundreds of acres of agricultural land he owned in his constituency.

“A total of Rs. 2,02,00,000/- was seized from the private office of Shri Prashant Madal on Crescent Road and Rs 6,10,30,000/- were seized from the residence of Shri Madal Virupakshappa,” the Lokayukta police stated after searches on March 2 and 3.

Since the grant of anticipatory bail on Tuesday the BJP legislator has also issued statements to claim that the Rs 6.10 crore cash would be accounted for when he appears before the Lokayukta police on Wednesday.

“I am 100 percent confident that I will be acquitted in the case. The source of money seized from my house is not corruption. The money is from agriculture and other legitimate businesses run by the family,” Madal Virupakshappa told the media on Tuesday.

Since Channagiri is the land of arecanut, “Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore can be found even at the residence of a common man. As we have a lot of businesses, Rs 6 crore is not a big deal for us. I will submit all the relevant documents to Lokayukta,” the BJP MLA said.