BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa facing bribery charges deposes before Lokayukta cops
Bengaluru, Mar 9: In eye of storm, BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, who is an accused in a bribe case deposed before the Lokayukta police here on Thursday.
Flanked by a lawyer and policemen, the MLA from Channagiri constituency in Davangere reached the Lokayukta office.
According to Lokayukta sources, Deputy Superintendent of Police Antony John J K, who has been appointed as the investigation officer, is interrogating the MLA.
Virupakshappa, who resigned as the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) chairman, is accused of collecting bribe through his son from contractors supplying raw material for the KSDL.
The Lokayukta sleuths had arrested Virupakshappa's son Prashanth Kumar M V from the KSDL office on March 2 while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a contractor.
Prashanth Kumar is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
Further searches led to the recovery of Rs 8.23 crore from the KSDL office and the MLA's house.
The interrogation will revolve around the cash haul in KSDL office and MLA's house.
Accepting that the huge cache of money found in his house belonged to his family, the BJP MLA, who got anticipatory bail on Tuesday told reporters, ''Our Taluk is known as the land of arecanut (supari). An ordinary farmer in our arecanut land has Rs five to six crore at home. I have 125 acres arecanut farm, arecanut market, and I have many other businesses as well. I will furnish the appropriate documents to the Lokayukta and get back my money.''
According to the Lokayukta sources, huge quantity of gold, silver ornaments were found in the MLA's house besides large investment in land.
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Bengaluru: Commercial building fire brought under control, two rescued
Bengaluru (PTI): A fire broke out in a multi-storey commercial building here on Friday evening, following which two people who were trapped on the terrace were safely rescued, officials said.
The incident occurred at around 5.30 pm at a commercial building located on Coles Road, they said.
However, no casualties were reported, officials added.
According to officials, the blaze started on the terrace, where a pantry and storeroom are located. The situation led to panic as the building is located adjacent to a petrol bunk, raising fears of a possible explosion.
Two people trapped on the terrace due to the fire were rescued by a police team along with Fire and Emergency Services personnel, a senior police officer said.
Four fire tenders were pressed into service, and after nearly an hour of intense firefighting, the blaze was brought under control.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
