BENGALURU: Congress leader and former IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the probe into the Bitcoin case is aimed at covering the tracks and not unravelling anything. He dared the government to release documents to back the claim of handing over the probe to the Enforcement Directorate.
Excerpts.
What is the case and how is it a scam?
We have barely scratched the surface. A hacker surrenders before the police, but it was not told to the people. Only after the habeas corpus petition was filed did we get to know that he was arrested. He was continuously kept in custody by slapping many cases. We are suspecting foul play as the accused claimed that he had hacked government websites, e-procurement portals for gains. In his voluntary statements, he declares that he has illegally gained profit by hacking gaming websites and also hacked into three currency exchanges. During his police custody, we suspect that he was used for other means to make money for officials and people in power. Why did the government not immediately inform the ED and Interpol when there is a clear order in that regard. They informed central agencies after keeping him in custody for three months, after he got bail and after the central agencies ask for information. All these lead to suspicion.
Everything seems to be based on the accused’s statements. The Home Minister says Srikrishna is bluffing. What we are saying is not just based on the accused’s statements, but also official documents and panchanama reports. In those reports, it was stated that there were 31.8 Bitcoins and they had changed the password for safekeeping. When they tried to put them into a police wallet, they found 186 Bitcoins in it and the transaction to transfer them to the police wallet failed. It is all there in official documents. Let them come before the media and explain the three pachanama reports. Let them tell why his blood samples were not tested on January 12 when his father filed a petition saying his son was drugged. Why the delay in writing to the ED? Also, if it was a non-issue, why did the Chief Minister discuss it with the Prime Minister?
You said if an impartial probe is done in the case, Karnataka will see a third BJP CM. What is the basis for such a statement?
We suspect that the accused was manipulated during his custody for the benefit of those in power. When the country’s first cryptocurrency scam was happening, won’t the Home Minister (Basavaraj Bommai was Home Minister at that time) be aware of it and won’t there be daily briefings about it? Won’t there be intelligence reports about it? The accused claimed he had hacked 1.2 lakh Bitcoins. More importantly, when the government e-procurement website was hacked and bids were being altered, that was good enough for the Home Minister to take note. I want to know, was the Home Minister aware of it or not? If he was not aware, he should say so. If he was aware, why he did not act? The government and the BJP need to answer. If Congress leaders are involved, we are challenging them to release their names.
In 2018, Srikrishna was booked in a case along with a Congress leader’s son...
How do we know what he had done in 2018? Let us assume that officers at that time were inefficient. Are you trying to say that you will continue that inefficiency. Is that the answer the government should give? They are neck-deep in this, knowingly or unknowingly, their kith and kin are involved. This investigation is to cover their tracks and it is not to unravel anything.
The CM and Home Minister are saying these are all politically motivated allegations...
I am surprised that in this country, all of a sudden, the Opposition is responsible for everything, including governance. They say they have handed the probe to central agencies. They can shut our mouths today if they release documents to show that they have given the case to central agencies. What prevents them from releasing those documents?