Lokayukta police get 5-day custody of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa in bribery case

The doctors conducted an ECG test and checked his blood pressure, after which they let the Lokayukta police take him, saying that he was in stable condition.

“We produced him before a magistrate on Tuesday and sought his custody until the coming Saturday,” Lokayukta Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok KV told South First.

Related: Virupakshappa goes ‘incommunicado’; 3 Lokayukta teams track him

The case

MLA Madal Virupakshappa was named as the prime accused in the first FIR registered by the Lokayukta police, who conducted search operations at the MLA’s office on Crescent Road in Bengaluru on the evening of 2 March and caught his son Prashanth Madal red-handed while he was accepting a bribe of ₹40 lakh from one Shreyas Kashyap, the owner of a chemical company, for the granting of a tender or contract for supplying chemical raw materials to the Karnataka Soaps and Detergent Limited (KSDL), where MLA Virupakshappa was the chairman.

Prashanth Madal, who is a chief accountant with the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), was immediately arrested — along with four others — from the office.

While two of the arrested, Siddesh and Surendhar, were office associates of Prashanth, two others — Albert Nicholas and Gangadhar — from Karnataka Aromas were waiting at the same office to offer ₹90 lakh (₹45 lakh each) as bribes to Prashanth. The money was also seized by the police.

Later, the Lokayukta police conducted searches at Prashanth’s house as well as the MLA’s house, where a total of ₹8.23 crore, including the money from the office, were seized by the Lokayukta, after which they registered two more FIRs.

In both of them, Prashanth Madal was named the prime accused and booked for accepting bribes.

Related: Investigating officer changed, gag orders on media

Where things stand now

At present, the Lokayukta police are gearing up for an elaborate questioning session with the MLA to ascertain his role in the demanding of bribes by his son Prashanth Madal, who has admitted to the sleuths that he was collecting money at the behest of his father.

Virupakshappa’s counsel contested in the high court, which heard his anticipatory bail petition, that the legislator was not a part of the committee that dealt with tender inviting and approval, and hence the question of his culpability did not arise.

The Lokayukta police had by then seized ₹2.2 crore from the BJP MLA’s office and ₹6.12 crore from the MLA’s son’s residence, and both Prashanth Madal and his father were answerable for the source of the money, Lokayukta sources told South First.

Though the MLA claimed that he was cooperating with the investigating officials after he was granted interim anticipatory bail by the high court, the Lokayukta police said he was not cooperating with them.

The Lokayukta police not only planned to file strong objections to the MLA’s anticipatory bail in the high court but also approach the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s order of granting anticipatory bail to the MLA.

On Monday, the high court dismissed the MLA’s anticipatory bail petition after the counsel for Lokayukta filed objections to the bail.

“Now, since he is in our custody, our men will get the required answers from him,” Lokayukta sources said.

Also read: The Yediyurappa loyalist whose son was caught taking bribes

What lies ahead

Lokayukta sources also said that the officials have already gathered enough evidence against Madal, his son, and the others during the trap proceedings and the searches thereafter.

The officials will question the MLA based on this evidence, sources added.

Meanwhile, one of the accused — Deepak Jadhav, a manager of Karnataka Aromas, who arranged for the bribe money and sent it through his employees Albert Nicholas and Gangadhar to hand over to Prashanth Madal — has also obtained anticipatory bail and is likely to appear before the officials for questioning within 10 days.

However one week is already over and the officials are waiting for three more days, following which they will approach the court for the cancellation of his bail, after which he would also be arrested, Lokayukta sources added.