Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil*

BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.
The finger of suspicion of this massive scam of illegal cryptocurrency directly points to several top BJP leaders and a “mastermind" -- absconding Gujarat BJP leader and ex- MLA Nalin Kotadiya. The modus operandi of this scam is multilayered and is like a Pandora’s box – whereby illegal Hawala transactions, kidnappings, extortion of crypto currency using CBI/police/government authorities at the behest of top BJP leaders in Gujarat is a norm.
The menacing maze of this mega Bitcoin scam has been estimated by the Gujarat CID at more than Rs 50,00 crore, though many vernacular news reports and independent blogs on internet place the value at Rs 88,000 crore.

Factual matrix

1. The mega Bitcoin scam began from a complaint made by one Shailesh Bhatt to Gujarat’s minister of state (MoS) for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who himself has deep links with absconding BJP ex-MLA Kotadia. Gujarat’s Amreli district police reportedly extorted 200 Bitcoins (Rs 10 crore) and demanded Rs 32 crore in cash from Bhatt.
2. Investigation agencies found that the CCTV footage of Amreli district police involved in extortion is true, leading to the arrest of Amreli police superintendent of police Jagdish Patel and police inspector Anant Patel, along with an accomplice PI and 10 constables. CID then discovered that the mastermind of this mega Bitcoin scam is no other than BJP's Kotadiya.
3. Even as the police/CID search the whereabouts of the mastermind, Kotadiya is absconding, but in a video footage appears where he is found saying that, if he is arrested, he would reveal damning evidence exposing top BJP leaders in the state -- those who were converting black money into white during demonetisation.
4. CID crime, Gujarat, is trying to pressurize the witnesses of this case for political reasons. Surprisingly, a second complaint filed by CID crime says that the main accused is Shailesh Bhatt, which was not the case earlier. Instead of making him the complainant in the first case, CID, at the behest of MoS (home), made police "the complainant".
5. Shockingly, Shailesh Bhatt kidnapped one Piyush Savalia, who was associated with Bitconnect, on January 30, and released the latter two days later. Bhatt then kidnapped Dhaval Mavani, who was able to transfer 2,256 Bitcoins worth Rs 131 crore to Bhatt, securing his release. Bhatt secured another Rs 10 crore worth of Bitcoins before being stung by Amreli police.
6. It is intriguing that the Modi government sent in CBI/ED/government authorities to hound Gujarat Congress MLAs as well Karnataka Congress candidates during state polls when the electoral code of conduct was on, but has not bothered to investigate this mega Bitcoin scam, whose mastermind is a BJP leader. Kotadiya himself has made serious allegations of how top BJP leaders are linked with this entire saga of illicit money transactions.

Questions:

1. At whose behest did the Amreli police extort Bitcoins and other cash through middlemen from investors? Why did the investigation agencies not make Shailesh Bhatt a complainant in the FIR that was filed in the first case?
2. The complainant himself stated in his statement that CBI inspector Sunil Nair extorted Rs 5 crore from him to not initiate any action. Why has Sunil Nair has not been made an accused but has been transferred from Gujarat to the North-East?
3. Who are the ‘top BJP leaders’ against whom Kotadiya has damning evidence?
4. Why are the CBI/ED/Central authorities not investigating this mega Bitcoin scam? Who are they sheltering? What is the cover-up?
5. Was Modi’s demonetisation used to cover in orer to convert black money into white by BJP leaders in Gujarat, and dupe investors through multiple extortion of illicit money?
6. If Modi government can send CBI/ED to investigate Congress leaders in Karnataka, before and during elections, what prevents it from investigating its own?
There should be an impartial Supreme Court-monitored judicial invetigation in this maze of mega Bitcoin scam, so that the truth comes out.
---
*National spokesperson, All-India Congress Committee

Comments

Fungus Humungous said…

Please don't insult bjp leaders with 5000 crore scams 😝 modiji s aim is to historic n transformative in everything. If at all kindly link bjp leaders with billions or trillion dollars scams

July 05, 2018

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C. In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

From algorithms to exploitation: New report exposes plight of India's gig workers

By Jag Jivan The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services.

Gig workers hold online strike on republic day; nationwide protests planned on February 3

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

'Condonation of war crimes against women and children’: IPSN on Trump’s Gaza Board

By A Representative The India-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) has strongly condemned the announcement of a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza and Palestine by former US President Donald J. Trump, calling it an initiative that “condones war crimes against children and women” and “rubs salt in Palestinian wounds.”

India’s road to sustainability: Why alternative fuels matter beyond electric vehicles

By Suyash Gupta* India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

With infant mortality rate of 5, better than US, guarantee to live is 'alive' in Kerala

By Nabil Abdul Majeed, Nitheesh Narayanan In 1945, two years prior to India's independence, the current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, was born into a working-class family in northern Kerala. He was his mother’s fourteenth child; of the thirteen siblings born before him, only two survived. His mother was an agricultural labourer and his father a toddy tapper. They belonged to a downtrodden caste, deemed untouchable under the Indian caste system.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Over 40% of gig workers earn below ₹15,000 a month: Economic Survey

By A Representative The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while reviewing the Economic Survey in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the rapid growth of gig and platform workers in India. According to the Survey, the number of gig workers has increased from 7.7 million to around 12 million, marking a growth of about 55 percent. Their share in the overall workforce is projected to rise from 2 percent to 6.7 percent, with gig workers expected to contribute approximately ₹2.35 lakh crore to the GDP by 2030. The Survey also noted that over 40 percent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.

Search This Blog