Bommai demands ED and CBI probe into 'illegal money' recovered from properties linked to contractor
Bengaluru(PTI): BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday accused the Congress government and some contractors of "jointly looting the state" and demanded an ED and CBI probe into the "illegal money" recovered during Income Tax department searches.
The former chief minister, whose government was accused by contractors of collecting 40 per cent commission from them, now labelled the contractors' association the Congress government's "commission collection centre".
IT officials have conducted searches at properties belonging to some contractors where they reportedly recovered a huge cache of money stashed in several boxes at properties linked to a city-based contractor, sources said.
Referring to the seizure, Bommai alleged that there has been corruption in everything including transfers of officials since the new government came to power. He accused the Congress dispensation of looting Karnataka in order to become an "ATM for the Congress party" allegedly to fund upcoming elections in five states.
"This is the most corrupt government that Karnataka has seen," Bommai claimed. "Corruption is seen from village till Vidhana Soudha, and it has been going on openly."
Speaking about the cash seizure, he said, "It is for the first time that a huge amount of money has been recovered from the house linked to a contractor, soon after the release of the pending bill money to the contractors."
He claimed, "This has proved beyond doubt that the government received a 10 per cent commission for clearing bills. More commission money would come out if the raids were conducted on some more contractors."
Speaking to reporters here, he alleged that the Contractors' Association had made baseless allegations against the previous BJP government and that the same association is now working as the "government's commission collection centre".
"There is a contractors' lobby functioning...some contractors and the government were jointly looting the state," he claimed, adding, "The recent recovery of money must be probed by the ED under the Money Laundering Act, and under Prevention of Corruption Act by the CBI."
He further said that if the chief minister had no role in this, then he must refer the case to the Lokayukta or to the Justice Nagmohan Das commission constituted by Siddaramaiah himself, which is probing the charge that the previous BJP government collected 40 per cent commission from contractors.
Accusing the state Congress leaders of "acting like the ATM" for the upcoming assembly polls in five states, he said they have no moral right to talk about corruption. "State Contractors' Association President Kempanna has met CM Siddaramaiah alleging that selective payment (of dues for works done by contractors) had been made. This itself is an evidence to prove that the bills of contractors who have paid commission have been released," Bommai claimed
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
