Four K’taka police officers get relief in Bitcoin case
Bengaluru: Four police officers, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), have secured relief in the high-profile Bitcoin case after the Karnataka Home Department declined to grant prosecution sanction against them.
This prompted the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Special Investigation Team (SIT) to drop charges and file a ‘B’ report before the court, police confirmed on Thursday.
The four officers are DySP Sridhar Pujar and Inspectors D.M. Prashanth Babu, Lakshmikanthaiah and Chandradhar.
The officers were under investigation by the CID SIT for their alleged role in the 2020–21 Bitcoin case involving cyber expert Santosh Kumar, hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias “Sriki”, and Robin Khandeval.
The probe pertained to the alleged illegal transfer of several lakhs in Bitcoins from Robin Khandeval’s cryptocurrency wallet, as well as other alleged offences, including cheating and manipulation of records.
The investigation had alleged that Santosh Kumar, in collusion with the four police officers, facilitated the transfer of Bitcoins through hacker Sriki. The SIT had claimed to have gathered evidence relating to the alleged offences during its investigation.
However, since all four accused are serving police officers, sanction from the competent authority was mandatory before prosecuting them under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Karnataka Police Act.
Police said the Home Department rejected three separate requests seeking prosecution sanction against the officers. In the absence of the mandatory approval, the SIT omitted their names from the charge sheet and submitted a ‘B’ report before the court.
Under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, prior sanction from the competent authority is required before a court can take cognisance of offences against public servants. Similarly, prosecution of police personnel also requires approval under the relevant provisions of the Karnataka Police Act.
The Bitcoin case, investigated by the CID SIT in 2020–21, had triggered a major political controversy between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka. The probe included allegations that hacker Sriki had been kept in illegal custody and that Bitcoins worth approximately Rs 1.83 crore had been transferred during the investigation.
With the prosecution sanction denied, the four police officers have effectively received relief in the case, while the CID SIT has closed proceedings against them by filing the ‘B’ report before the court.