CBI rejects 'baseless' reports of FBI presence in K'taka over Bitcoin scam

The CBI on Sunday described reports that the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is in India to gather information on the Bitcoin scam in Karnataka as "speculative" and "without any basis".

The agency said the FBI has not sent any team to India to conduct a probe. The FBI has also not made any request to the CBI for conducting an investigation in this case.

"Accordingly, the question of according any permission for the probe by the Competent Authority in India does not arise. CBI as the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL in India coordinates closely with international law enforcement agencies including FBI," a CBI statement said.

Also Read | Is FBI in Delhi to probe Karnataka Bitcoin scam, asks Congress

CBI sources said the statements and reports in this regard are “highly speculative, malafide and without any basis”.

The CBI statement came two days after the Congress asked the government whether the FBI was in India to gather information on the bitcoin scam unearthed in Karnataka last year.

Party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala sought details from the Centre after former Karnataka Minister and Congress leader Priyank Kharge tweeted that he believed that the FBI is in the national capital to investigate the bitcoin scam.

"Like I said before, if the state investigates the matter diligently a lot of BJP’s skeletons will tumble out," Kharge had tweeted.

Soon after Surjewala posed questions to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai to confirm whether the US agency is in Delhi to "investigate India's biggest bitcoin scam cover-up under the Karnataka BJP government".

He also demanded the details of the investigations and suspects, including names of politicians, be released.

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