Madal Virupakshappa says Rs 8.23 cr cash was from sale of arecanut and not through corrupt means

Vartha Bharati | 07-03-2023 | 19:55:00 IST

Davangere, Mar 7: The embattled BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, who is facing corruption charges after Rs 8.23 crore was seized from his house and office said on Tuesday that he got the money from sale of arecanut (supari).

Channagiri MLA Virupakshappa, who was the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited chairman, told reporters at Channeshapur after getting bail from the High Court this was the first in the history of India that a raid has been carried out against a ruling party MLA.

Accepting that the huge cache of money found in his house belonged to his family, the BJP MLA said, ''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.''

Virupakshappa's son Prashanth Kumar M V, was caught red-handed by Lokayukta officials collecting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh cash from a contractor, allegedly on behalf of his father at the KSDL office.

Further raids led to the recovery of Rs 8.23 crore cash from the house of the Madal family, huge quantity of gold and silver ornaments and large investment in land.

Prashanth is a Karnataka Administrative Services officer and is the chief accounts officer of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Claiming innocence, he said did not do anything wrong since he did not have any administrative power to sign on any tender documents.

Virupakshappa also maintained that the KSDL officers had cleared all the tenders in a transparent manner and no corruption had taken place.

''I have not done anything wrong, so the court gave me bail,'' he added.

Calling it a conspiracy against him, he suspected that it was done with a malicious political intent by unknown people.

''This is the first time in the history that a raid has been carried out against a ruling party MLA. I would like to say that I did not do anything which can hurt my party, and I did not do any corruption and I did not indulge in any irregularities,'' the BJP MLA said.

Virupakshappa also claimed that his son was innocent and alleged someone put Rs 40 lakh in his chamber to trap him.

The MLA who broke down and wept inconsolably said he himself had restricted his movements after the raids.

Channeshapur also saw a rousing welcome with garland and showers of flowers amid sloganeering by his supporters. The MLA stood on his vehicle and waved at the supporters to show the bail as his victory.

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Congress Corporator's daughter stabbed to death inside college campus in Hubballi

19-04-2024 ¦ 19-04-2024 IST

Representational Image

Hubballi (Karnataka), Apr 18: The daughter of a Congress Corporator was stabbed to death by her acquaintance inside BVB college campus here on Thursday after she allegedly rejected his proposal, police said.

The deceased Neha (23), the daughter of Niranjan Hiremath, was a first-year MCA student, they said.

The accused 23-year-old Fayaz, an MCA dropout, has been arrested in connection with the incident, police said, adding that both of them were batchmates during their BCA course.

The entire incident was caught on CCTV camera.

According to the police, Fayaz went inside the college campus with a knife and stabbed Neha five-six times. During the attack, he too sustained injuries and was shifted to the hospital along with the victim. At the hospital, Neha was declared brought dead.

ALSO READ: Double murder in B'luru park: Mother of woman stabbed to death kills daughter's murderer

"During interrogation, he (Fayaz) claimed that the two of them had been in a relationship and that she had suddenly started avoiding him. It needs to be corroborated and verified, but he was arrested immediately," a senior police officer said.

A case of murder has been registered, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.

Narrating about the incident, Neha's father Hiremath said that his daughter had classes from 8 am. At around 4.30 pm, when she stepped out after completing her classes, this person approached towards her and stabbed her nearly six times inside the college campus and she died on the spot.

"He (the accused) was an old student and he had proposed my daughter but she rejected his proposal. She did not like him and she usually stayed away from all this...She refused him saying they both belonged to different caste and that she did not wish to have any relationship with him. Out of anger, he stabbed my daughter," he told PTI videos.

Demanding justice for her daughter, he said that the accused should he hanged to death only then will his daughter's soul rest in peace.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the incident and offered condolences to the family of the deceased.

"An accused has already been arrested in connection with the incident and I have instructed the Director General of Police to conduct a strict investigation and take action to ensure maximum punishment for the accused," he said in a post on 'X'.

He also appealed to people to not take law into their hands.

"In connection with the incident, no one should get agitated and take law into their hands or attempt to disturb peace of the society. It is our duty to get justice for the death of the young woman, in this regard the police department will work hard," he added.

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