CM: Will sacrifice anyone involved in Bitcoin scam

Bommai dares Opposition Congress to name influential people  involved in multi-crore scandal to take probe forward

By NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on  Sunday asserted  that his government is ‘ready to sacrifice  anyone involved’ in the Bitcoin scam and challenged  the Congress to name the  “influential people” it has  alleged are behind the irregularities.

“The Congress says  there are some influential  people involved in the  scam. If you know them,  then name them. We will  investigate it without any  second thought. If there is  anyone involved in the  country or, we will initiate  action mercilessly,” Bommai told reporters on the  sidelines of an event here.

The CM was reacting to  a query on Congress general secretary Randeep  Singh Surjewala’s allegations. “We are the ones  who brought out this scam.  We will not spare anyone  and are ready to sacrifice  anyone involved. There is  no question of any second  thought on our decision.

To hide the role of Congress, you are naming persons who are nowhere in  the picture,” he charged.

Surjewala had alleged in  a press conference in Delhi  on Saturday that the size  of the scam could be much  bigger because just on two  days on December 1, 2020  and April 14, 2021 illegal  transactions worth Rs  5,240 crore took place.

The Congress leader had  also posed a series of questions to PM Narendra  Modi and asked what was  the role of Bommai, who  was the state’s home minister when the scam took  place.

Surjewala also demanded to know why international agencies, including  Interpol, were not informed about the stolen  Bitcoins.

Lashing out at the Congress leader, Bommai said  the BJP government had  held the hacker Srikrishna  alias Sriki, investigated  him and exposed him unlike the Congress, who released him when they were  in power in 2018.

Challenging Surjewala  to provide whatever information he has to the Enforcement Directorate or  the Karnataka police,  Bommai said action would  be taken immediately. The Chief Minister also  sought to know why the  Congress government in  Karnataka between 2013  and 2019 did not probe the  matter when the scam  started in 2016. “If there was a Karnataka connection to it, then  why did you not probe it  when you were in the gover nment? Sur jewala  should question the then  CM Siddaramaiah and  ministers why their did  not pay heed to it,” Bommai charged.

He further said that  Srikrishna was held for  the first time in 2018, but  was let go. If the police had  then probed his background, they would have  come to know everything  about him.

“You could have done it  in 2018. Why was it not  done? You released him  and allowed the problem to  grow big,” Bommai  alleged.

The Chief Minister said  the hacker was arrested in  a drug case in 2020 and a  detailed interrogation revealed his role in hacking  Bitcoin portals.

Bommai also hit out at  Surjewala for relying on a  Twitter handle to claim  that transactions worth Rs  5,240 crore took place.

“His allegations are  based on something that  appeared on a Twitter handle. If you rely on a Twitter  handle to level allegations,  then it shows your mental  bankruptcy. Anyone can  say anything on Twitter,”  he alleged.

The Chief Minister said  Surjewala should have spoken keeping the circumstantial evidence and witnesses with him, instead  of basing his charges on  tweets.

“If you rely on tweets on  a Twitter handle and say  that frauds to the tune of  crores of Rupees has taken  place, then I would clearly  say that this does not suit  the spokesperson of a national party,” Bommai  charged.

He asserted that his government is untouched by  this scandal because they  were the ones who arrested the hacker, investigated  the scam, exposed it and  referred the matter to the  ED, the CBI and Interpol.

Bommai added that his  government is also providing all kinds of help to the  ED and the CBI.

To a query on the number of Bitcoins held by  Srikrishna, Bommai said  the hacker had shown an  exchange account as his,  though no individual can  have the exchange  account