BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa arrested after his bail plea in graft case rejected by K'taka HC
Bengaluru, Mar 27: The Lokayukta police arrested BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa hours after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his bail petition in a bribery case relating to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) on Monday.
The Channagiri MLA had got bail days after his son Prashant M V, who was caught while receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a contractor on March 2.
Subsequent raids led to the detection of unaccounted cash of Rs 8.23 crore from Virupakshappa's house, sources said.
"We arrested him in Tumakuru when he (the MLA) was on the way to Bengaluru," Lokayukta Inspector General of Police A Subramanyeshwara Rao told PTI.
The High Court had reserved its judgment in the matter last week. The case pertains to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for allotting contract for supplying chemicals to the state-run company. Subsequent raids by the Lokayukta unearthed cash to the tune of Rs 8.23 crore.
Justice K Natarajan rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Channagiri MLA.
Virupakshappa, who was the chairman of KSDL, has been charged with demanding bribe through his son Prashanth Madal, a KAS officer.
A demand for Rs 81 lakh bribe to pass a bill was made and his son was caught in his office while accepting Rs 40 lakh out of it.
Later, over Rs 7 crore in cash was seized from Virupakshappa's residence.
Prashanth has already been arrested in the case on March 2. Four more arrests have been made by the Lokayukta police in the case since then.
The BJP MLA has since resigned as the chairman of KSDL.
Virupakshappa is the prime accused in the case. The HC had earlier granted interim anticipatory bail to the MLA on a Rs five lakh personal bond which helped him escape arrest.
Virupakshappa faces charges under Section 7(A) and 7(B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. While Prashanth is the second accused in the case, Siddesh, Nicholas and Gangadhar are the other accused.
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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.
