Officers from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday raided the homes of serial hacker Srikrishna alias Sriki and two others accused in the Bitcoin scam.
A well-placed source confirmed that the raids were conducted at multiple places but didn’t give details. Another source said that the raids were conducted with the court’s permission and “yielded” technical evidence.
The raids were conducted at Srikrishna's home in Jayanagar, Sunish Hegde's home in Sanjaynagar, and Prasidh's residence in Sadashivanagar, the second source said.
In November 2020, the Central Crime Branch (CCB) seized an overseas package of hydro ganja allegedly bought on the Darknet using Bitcoins. The CCB arrested Sujay M, a 30-year-old resident of Sadashivanagar, who was the alleged recipient of the package. A case was subsequently registered at the KG Nagar police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and various sections of the IPC.
The case eventually led to Srikrishna’s arrest on November 17, 2020. A highly talented geek, he allegedly bought drugs on the Dark Web with Bitcoins that he earned by hacking the state government’s e-governance and other websites. Investigators say he siphoned off Rs 11.5 crore in total.
Many politicians and senior bureaucrats are suspected to have pocketed Bitcoins secured by Srikrishna.
After coming to power, the Congress government constituted the SIT to probe the Bitcoin case.
Published 12 September 2023, 21:24 IST