Karnataka: BJP MLA's son caught receiving Rs. 40 lakh bribe
What's the story
The anti-corruption department of Lokayukta in Karnataka arrested sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Madal Virupakshappa's son Prashanth Madal while he was reportedly receiving a bribe of Rs. 40 lakh on Thursday at his office in Bengaluru. According to the officials of Lokayukta, a contractor filed a complaint against Prashanth on Thursday morning, accusing him of taking bribes.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The arrest of the BJP MLA's son comes just a few months ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka. Notably, elections to the 224-seat state are set to take place in May this year. It is also worth noting that this incident came to light only a couple of days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Karnataka visit.
Details
Here's how Lokayukta caught Prashanth red-handed
Based on the complaint, Lokayukta officials reportedly laid a trap and caught Prashanth red-handed while accepting a bribe on behalf of his father. "We conducted searches at his office and found Rs 1.7 crore. We suspect Prashanth was receiving bribes on behalf of his father. We are investigating the source of the money we found at his office," a Lokayukta official told India Today.
More details
Virupakshappa reacts to son Madal's arrest
Meanwhile, Virupakshappa responded to his son's arrest by claiming he had no idea and only learned about it from news reports. "I don't know about this. I got information about the incident from news reports," the BJP MLA said. "I didn't speak to my son as he's under the custody of the Lokayukta now," Virupakshappa added.
Information
Rs. 6 crore in cash recovered from Madal's residence
According to the news outlet The Times of India on Friday, a raid is currently underway at Madal's residence in Bengaluru, and Lokayukta officials have recovered Rs. 6 crore in cash during the search.
Twitter Post
Visuals of the raid at Madal's residence
#Lokayukta officials have recovered Rs 6 crore in cash during a a raid at the residence of #PrashanthMadal in Bengaluru. Searches are still under way. Prashanth is son of BJP MLA #MadalVirupakshappa pic.twitter.com/iLRZn32w4a
— TOI Bengaluru (@TOIBengaluru) March 3, 2023
Know more
Similar incident from last month
On February 24, Lokayukta officials also caught a clerk at Employees' State Insurance Corporation in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior red-handed for accepting a bribe of Rs. 5,000. The accused, identified as Shubham Gupta, was allegedly demanding a bribe from a woman contractual employee at the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (MPEB) in order to withdraw her maternity leave money.
Quotes
Details on complaint against Shubham Gupta
According to Raghvendra Rishishwar, Lokayukta Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), they received a complaint on February 20 from a woman working as a contractual employee at MPEB. "She said that the maternity leave amount which gets deducted from her bank account (around Rs. 50,000) was to be given to her by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation," Rishishwar added.
Information
Case registered against accused: Rishishwar
Acting on the complaint, Lokayukta laid a trap, and the accused clerk was caught. Rishishwar added that the team recovered the bribe amount from Gupta, reported ANI. Furthermore, a case was also filed against the clerk under the Prevention of Corruption Act's Section 7.