An Indian Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating into a Bitcoin scam in Karnataka issued a notice to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sandeep Patil. The police officer has been asked to submit clarification on the inquiry done against a hacker at the time of his tenure. Patil was the head of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) when the crypto scam occurred.
SIT looks out for evidence
According to reports, the SIT’s FIR filed on January 24 named four of the former CCB officers. The tally includes the names of Sridhar Poojar, and inspectors Prashanth Babu, Chandradhar SR, and Lakshmikanthaiah. However, a private cyber expert KS Santhosh Kumar has also been implicated. He assisted in the 2020 investigation of the hacker’s case.
The court proceedings reveal that the special team went on to argue against granting bail to Chandradhar. They cited discrepancies in the Crime Branch’s investigation. It is being highlighted that the Crime Branch claimed that they have recovered 31 Bitcoins (worth approx ₹9 crore) from hacker
It is important to note that these Bitcoins could not be found, while the SIT had informed the Court that Chandradhar had failed to thoroughly investigate how, why, and when the hacker allegedly tampered with the Bitcoin core application.
This major development comes in when the Indian Government is still opting for a wait and watch approach over the regulations to be made around digital assets. From the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Union Finance Minister has expressed their skepticism about crypto’s unregulated, borderless, and volatile nature. However, the lack of clear rules had fueled uncertainty in the market.
What’s happening in India?
Back in 2018, the RBI prohibited banks and financial institutions from dealing with cryptos. They cited concerns over consumer protection and money laundering.
Recently, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance got registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). This comes in as the exchange wanted to resume its operations in the country.
Binance was prohibited from operating in the country in December due to its non-compliance with Indian regulations. This was the part of financial watchdog’s action taken against the offshore crypto exchanges that were reportedly operating in the country and that too without registration.
The global crypto market recorded a marginal surge on Wednesday. The total market cap stood at $2.28 trillion. Its 24 hour trading volume is up by over 5% to stand at $70 billion.
