Bitcoin scam is enormous, CM Bommai is being escapist, says Congress

With the bitcoin case getting murkier by the day, Karnataka Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wondered if Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was claiming the involvement of Congress leaders in order to escape. 

Siddaramaiah was responding to Bommai who said Congress leaders are involved in the Bitcoin case. 

“Whoever is involved - be it from Congress, BJP or JD(S) - should be booked. Their names should be revealed,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. “It is Bommai who is running the government and under whose control the police are. Let him not give an escapist answer. He should be responsible,” he said. 

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar even claimed that the bitcoin case is enormous in terms of the money involved. “I’m unable to calculate the extent of this scam. I might fall unconscious looking at the statistics,” he said. 

Also Read | Several Congress leaders involved in Bitcoin scam: CM Bommai

The Congress is particularly annoyed with Bommai and other BJP leaders for claiming that the previous Siddaramaiah government had not acted against hacker Srikrishna alias Sriki in the 2018 Farzi Cafe brawl case in which Congress’ Shantinagar MLA NA Haris’ son Mohammed Nalapad was named.

“If they have the guts, let them arrest our MLA’s son. What is the home minister waiting for? If anyone has done wrong, let them act. But, does the home minister know the [BJP] names involved in the bitcoin scam,” Shivakumar asked. 

Meanwhile, JD(S) Legislature Party Leader HD Kumaraswamy accused both BJP and Congress of a cover-up. “We must take a serious stand on the bitcoin scam,” he said. “The government shouldn’t discuss the case just for publicity without doing nothing about it. And, the scam dates back to 2016 when Congress was in power and Siddaramaiah was CM. If action was taken back then, the scam wouldn’t have become this huge,” he said. 

Kumaraswamy also noted reports that the Enforcement Directorate was probing the case. “Nobody is ready to reveal the truth before the public.”

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