Suspended DySP arrested in Bitcoin case

The SIT was formed in 2023 due to the alleged involvement of politicians and police officers in the scam.
Suspended DySP arrested in Bitcoin case
Updated on
2 min read

BENGALURU: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing the multi-crore Bitcoin scam, arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Sridhar K Pujar. The arrest was made on Monday when the suspended DySP appeared for questioning before the SIT, after the Karnataka High Court recently refused his anticipatory bail in connection with an FIR registered by Cottonpet police in August 2023, based on a complaint by K Ravishankar, present investigating officer of the SIT.

Pujar, 47, who was earlier inspector with Central Crime Branch (CCB), was reportedly charged with tampering electronic devices that were seized from notorious hacker Shriki, an accused in the case, and his associates. The devices were allegedly tampered in the premises of the CCB office. Pujar is the fifth accused arrested so far in the scam.

Of the five arrested, four are police officers who had earlier worked with Central Crime Branch (CCB) and were part of the Bitcoin scam probe. The other three officers who were arrested are Prashanth Babu, Lakshmikanthiah and Chandradhar, who are currently out on bail. Another person who was arrested runs a private firm in HSR Layout.

The SIT was formed in 2023 due to the alleged involvement of politicians and police officers in the scam.

The main accused, international hacker Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Shriki, and his associates were arrested by CCB sleuths in 2020 for allegedly purchasing narcotics through darknet using Bitcoins. Ever since the SIT was formed, two new FIRs were registered. In August 2023, SIT filed its first complaint at Cottonpet police station.

The second FIR was registered by cyber crime police of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in January 2024. In both cases, K Ravishankar is the complainant.

Pujar was also accused of attempting to murder an officer of the SIT on February 27 this year, near the Coffee Board signal. The complaint was filed by an assistant sub-inspector, who alleged that Pujar had caused injuries to two SIT officers while trying to evade arrest in the Bitcoin case. After this incident, CID had announced a reward for information on Pujar, who was elusive.

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