Don’t scuttle probe into Karnataka Bitcoin scandal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki and 18 others in a case related to hacking and theft of Rs 11.5 crore from a Karnataka government portal in 2019. This case is only a part of what came to be known as the bitcoin scam during the BJP regime, involving hacking cryptocurrency exchanges, online poker sites and government portals. The chargesheet has been filed even as the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the scam. After siphoning funds from the government portal, Sriki and his associates allegedly converted them into bitcoins to peddle drugs. When the Bengaluru police apprehended Sriki in November 2020, in a case involving the hacking of a gaming website, little did they know that his arrest would turn out to be the biggest political nightmare for the BJP government. A year later, Sriki’s alleged crimes came back to haunt the Basavaraj Bommai government. Bommai was the home minister when Sriki was first arrested. A full-fledged political slugfest had broken out with both the ruling and opposition parties accusing the other of benefiting from the proceeds of Sriki's crimes. There were also rumours that top bureaucrats, police officers and politicians were involved in the scam.

Also Read | Karnataka govt forms SIT to probe Bitcoin scam that surfaced during BJP regime

The scam had caught the imagination of the public with reports surfacing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was informed of the case during his US visit and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had landed in Bengaluru to investigate the case. These reports were subsequently denied by Araga Jnanendra, then the Karnataka home minister. The delay in handing over the case to the ED and the alleged irregularities in the investigation by the state agencies had raised suspicions that the government was trying to protect the high and the mighty. The Congress, then in the opposition, had promised to reopen the case if it came to power. While the ED has explored the money laundering angle, the SIT, which will include officers from various departments with expertise in investigating cyber and cryptocurrency-related crimes, will inquire into other aspects of the scam.

The case has national and international ramifications and the questioning of the sons and grandsons of several politicians by the ED indicates that there is no smoke without fire. It is curious that the ED suddenly woke up to the case. Generally, in such instances, such a development raises suspicion that one agency is out to deny custody of the accused to another agency. The investigation should be taken to its logical end and the ED and the SIT should not work at cross-purposes. The guilty, however powerful, must be brought to book.