BENGALURU: The tussle between the Opposition Congress and the BJP government continued on Wednesday with Congress spokesperson and former IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge addressing a second press conference where he raised questions about several issues ranging from ‘missing’ Bitcoins to conflict of interest. He also went on to allege that the Bommai-led government, in collusion with some police officers, is trying to cover up the case and is giving out ‘misleading’ information.
“The Investigation Officer, Sridhar Pujar, had stated that Unocoin was hacked by the accused Sri Krishna alias Sriki (FIR No. 153/2020). But the police opened a digital wallet with the same portal (Unocoin) to secure the seized 31.8 Bitcoins’’, he claimed, questioning the motive behind it. “This apart, during the ‘panchanama’ to seize the currency, the police had called the directors of Unocoin, the aggrieved party.
Does this not amount to conflict of interest,’’ he questioned. He also questioned where 0.8 Bitcoins of the 31.8 seized, belonging to Sriki’s accomplice Robin Khandelwal, had disappeared as the Cyber Crime police wallet shows zero balance on the BlockChain Explorer. “In one day, two transactions were made with regard to the 0.8 Bitcoins,” he alleged.
Not buying the argument that there was a typo in mentioning the crime number in the communication to the Interpol, Kharge questioned why the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner took six months time to clarify about it. “The police claimed to have seized 31.8 Bitcoins and when it became 186, they did not speak up. When Sriki was in custody, there were over 5,000 Bitcoins transactions. How was this possible?
Why was no charge sheet filed against him even after one year,” Kharge asked. He also alleged that the government is ignoring the hacking of the e-procurement portal. He also took exception to the presence of police intelligence wing personnel during the press conference.
Later, he questioned Home Minister Araga Jnanendra saying, “Looks like the BJP Govt is under immense pressure on the #BJPBitcoinScam Why else would they send police officers in plainclothes for @INCKarnataka press conference on #Bitcoin? will the HM kindly explain,” (Sic) he posted on Twitter.