Email of hacker hints at his links with cops

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With a shocking new twist after each passing day, the Bitcoin probe has become a matter of great concern for the Karnataka government In the latest, the Criminal Investigation Department's (CID) Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is looking into the multi-crore Bitcoin fraud, have found a message, allegedly an email conversation, and an evidence of the purported relationship between the prime accused Sriki alias Srikrishna Ramesh and the accused police officials in the case.

"One of the most incredible experiences I've had is being in police custody. The cops have extended a free pass to me. I got to know all the best police officers, had access to a laptop, music, and a Zazztab, and the commissioner himself kept an eye on me."

On February 22, 2021, while he was being held by the authorities, the prime accused Sriki had written this message to his fiancée via his personal email account, sources said.

However, the lawyer representing police inspector Prashanth Babu CM, who was a member of the investigative team that looked into the Bitcoin fraud before, objected to this discovery, pointing out that, according to the complaint, Sriki was not in police custody on the specified day.

The email is being used by the SIT to support its request to dismiss Babu's bail plea and to demonstrate how Sriki and another accused person, Robin Khandelwal, were employed to hack cryptocurrency wallets, websites, gaming applications, and other platforms in order to get unlawful access to imprison people.

Before a municipal civil and sessions court, where the plea was entered, the attorney also argued that although some Bitcoins had been unlawfully moved on January 16, 2021, Sriki was not under police custody at that time.

Three years after their incarceration, Sriki and Robin are accused of being held illegally.