Mumbai: A day ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly Polls, former IPS officer from Pune, Ravindranath Patil, accused NCP-SP Leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole of involving in an alleged cryptocurrency fraud case. Speaking to ANI, Patil alleged that Amitabh Gupta, then Commissioner of Police, Pune, and Bhagyashri Nautake, then Deputy Commissioner of Police handling the Cyber Crime Investigations, were involved in the misappropriation of Bitcoins in 2018, and these were eventually being used by the two political leaders.
"My company called me as a cryptocurrency expert to investigate a case in 2018. I was arrested in that case in 2022 under allegations of fraud. I spent 14 months in jail after a trial. During that time, I was wondering what had happened, what the case was and why was I trapped. There were other colleagues also with me. We were working on finding out the truth. A witness against us, Gaurav Mehta, who is an employee of an audit firm named Sarathi Associates," Patil alleged as reported ANI.
"A day before yesterday, he called me multiple times for 4-5 hours, but I did not respond… Finally, when I responded, he told me that in 2018, when Amit Bharadwaj was arrested, he had a cryptocurrency hardware wallet… That wallet was replaced by the then Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and another wallet was kept. We were arrested but the real perpetrators were Amitabh Gupta and his team. He (Gaurav Mehta) took the names of two IPS officers, Amitabh Gupta and Bhagyashri Nautake. He took two people's name one is Supriya Sule and Nana Patole. He then told me that in this assembly elections bitcoins are being used," he alleged.
Patil further claimed that the Bitcoin money was used for funding in Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha elections. The former IPS officer alleged that Patil further alleged that "in other calls, Amitabh Gupta is heard giving instructions to Gaurav to cash out bitcoins.
Supriya Sule Responds:
NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Patil Sule termed all the allegations as 'fake". "Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin misappropriation. ," Sule said in her X post.
"The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India," she added.
Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin… pic.twitter.com/g8Selv1DFk
— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) November 19, 2024
Meanwhile, Sule also threatened to file a defamation case against BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivdei. "It’s appalling that such baseless allegations are made by Mr Sudhanshu Trivedi, yet not surprising as it’s a clear case of spreading false information, the night before elections. My lawyer will be issuing a criminal & civil defamation notice against Sudhanshu Trivedi for making outrightly false allegations with an intent to deceive the public at large," Sule said.
It’s appalling that such baseless allegations are made by Mr Sudhanshu Trivedi, yet not surprising as it’s a clear case of spreading false information, the night before elections. My lawyer will be issuing a criminal & civil defamation notice against Sudhanshu Trivedi for making…
— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) November 19, 2024
What BJP Leader Sudhanshu Trivedi Said?
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said that it exposed the true face of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP-SP. “An accused dealer contacts a former police officer who has been jailed earlier due to some allegations and tells him that he (the alleged dealer) wants to do some transactions of bitcoin in cash. The police officer declines his request. But the dealer tries to convince him as few ‘big people’ are involved in this matter and he allegedly takes the names of Nana Patole and Supriya Sule. When the police officer doesn’t show any trust in this, the dealer sends him the audio clips,” Trivedi said.
The BJP leader asked five questions from the Congress over the allegations. "As per the claims of the dealer, there is mention of the need for money for the elections in those audio clips…Now, we want to ask 5 questions to the Congress Party, one, are you involved in the bitcoin transaction? Second, are you in contact with this person named Gaurav Gupta or Mehta? Third, the chats are yours (of your leaders) or not? Fourth, the audio in the audio clips is yours or not? Fifth, who are the 'big people'?" he said.
Sudhanshu Trivedi's Statement:
#WATCH | Delhi | BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi says, “An accused dealer contacts a former police officer who has been jailed earlier due to some allegations and tells him that he (the alleged dealer) wants to do some transactions of bitcoin in cash. The police officer declines his… pic.twitter.com/nAHuvgdPTQ
— ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2024
The BJP also shared audio clips allegedly featuring voices of Nana Patole, Supriya Sule, Amitabh Gupta and Gaurav Mehta.
The Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.