Karnataka Minister Slams Congress Over Bitcoin Scam Allegations | Latest India News

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Bangalore: Fighting back at Congress for its allegation that a top BJP leader was involved in a ‘Bitcoin scam’, Karnataka Interior Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed on Wednesday that it is the leaders of Congress who are involved in such a scam. It comes even as Karnataka’s chief minister denies knowledge of any scams involving cryptocurrency.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Jnanendra denied congressional accusations against the opposition that the ruling BJP is protecting influential people in the affair. “Hacker Sriki was caught in an incident at UB City (a popular shopping mall) in 2018. Why didn’t then CM Siddaramaiah stop him? Why didn’t he stop and investigate when two congressional leaders were arrested with a third child, ”he said without giving details of the allegation.

“When we caught Sriki in the drug scandal, we learned that he was also involved in the Bitcoin scam. We therefore recommended an investigation by the Directorate of Execution (ED) and Interpol, ”he added.

It was an ED investigation into an 11 month old case in Bengaluru involving cryptocurrency hacker Sri Krishna aka Sriki which snowballed into political controversy with the opposition accusing the ruling BJP of a cover-up last week. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah told media that two influential politicians were involved and that there had been an attempt to cover up their role in the affair.

Srikrishna, 25, is said to have hacked three bitcoin exchanges, several online poker apps and a government e-procurement website. Bitcoins worth 9 crore were recovered from him, which he had either stolen through data theft or online extortion. He is also accused of stealing 11 crore from the e-procurement portal.

Srikrishna was arrested on November 18 after police arrested drug traffickers, to whom he allegedly sold drugs bought on the dark web. Srikrishna graduated in computer science from a college in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 2017. A senior police officer said Srikrishna will encrypt data and demand payment from owners for the site to be unlocked by attacking online sites, in addition to using cryptocurrency for money laundering.

Srikrishna was recently questioned by the ED in connection with a case filed earlier this year by the agency regarding the alleged hacking of bitcoin holder accounts between 2018 and 2020, and the collection of bitcoins via the hawala route. after-sales to third parties.

Meanwhile, Congressman Siddaramiah demanded that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai make public the names of politicians allegedly involved in the Bitcoin scam, regardless of which party they belong to. “Whether it’s Congress or the BJP, it doesn’t matter. People should know the truth. I have information on politicians involved in this scam. If there is no file, why did the CM give it to the ED? ” He asked.

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