The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing the alleged bitcoin scam recorded the statement of IPS officer Sandeep Patil, IGP, Karnataka State Reserve Police, on Wednesday.
Mr. Patil is the first IPS officer to be questioned in the alleged scam. He was heading the Central Crime Branch (CCB), Bengaluru City Police, when the hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki was arrested and the scam allegedly unfolded.
The SIT had earlier booked four police inspectors who were part of investigations of multiple cases involving hacker Sriki and his associate Robin Kandelwala. While the SIT arrested two persons, Prashanth Babu, PI, Technical Support Centre, and Santosh Kumar, CEO, GCID Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the team questioned other police officers. The officers who were questioned are Lakshmikanthaiah, Chandradhar, and Shridhar K. Pujari, all police inspectors then posted with the CCB.
The sources said that the SIT issued notice to Sandeep Patil to summon him for questioning in the case and his statement was recorded on Wednesday.
According to the remand application submitted by the SIT to the court, accessed by The Hindu, the SIT alleged that CCB inspectors took illegal custody of Sriki and Khandelwal in 2020 and later fabricated documents to show arrest on later dates. On the other hand, the SIT also alleged the CCB inspectors with the help of Prashanth Babu and Santosh helped some private persons receive the bitcoins.
