Karnataka Youth Congress chief Mohammed Nalapad appears before SIT probing Bitcoin scam
Bengaluru, Feb 06 (PTI): Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee President Mohammed Haris Nalapad appeared before the SIT of the Karnataka CID here on Thursday to take part in the Bitcoin scam probe.
Mohammed and his brother Omar Haris, were questioned in June 2024 too for over two days with regard to the payments made by them for expenses incurred by hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki, including his stay at luxury hotels, his travel and other expenses between 2017 and 2018.
Sriki was arrested in November 2020.
Mohammed and Omar are sons of Congress MLA N A Haris, the chairman of the Bangalore Development Authority.
Sources said the SIT is reported to be in the process of finalising two charge sheets in the Bitcoin scam in which police officers have allegedly destroyed evidence and embezzled cryptocurrency.
The SIT began its investigation into the Bitcoin scam in June 2023.
Last year, the SIT filed a charge sheet against Sriki and his accountant Robin Khandelwal in connection with the hacking of Unocoin Technology Pvt Ltd's crypto exchange in Karnataka that occurred on June 23, 2017. This incident resulted in the theft of 60.6 Bitcoins, which were valued at Rs 1.14 crore based on the prevailing rate of Rs 1.67 lakh per Bitcoin at that time.
There is no record of direct financial transactions between the hacker and the Nalapad brothers, including their fund manager. However, the hacker stated to the CID police in 2021, following his arrest for a hacking incident at the Karnataka government's e-procurement portal in July 2019 that resulted in a Rs 11.5 crore heist, that he had made an "investment" of 150 Bitcoin and 1,100 Ethereum with Mohammed after meeting the brothers in 2017.
According to the sources, the statements made by Srikrishna are currently being investigated and verified.
At the time of the hacker's arrest in 2020, the value of one Bitcoin was in the range of $20,000 (around Rs 20 lakh), and it surged to as high as $50,000 (around Rs 50 lakh) by April 2021. The value of one Bitcoin recently hit $1,00,000.
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Dalit youngster in Raichur denied entry into temple: Video viral
Police, priest, Dalit leaders ‘unaware of matter’
Raichur: The priest of the Ambabhavani Temple in Athkur village has been accused of stopping Dalit youngsters from entering the temple for a ritual related the Navaratri festival, although related parties, including the priest and Dalit leaders of the village, have denied knowledge about the incident.
A video of the youngsters, belonging to the Madiga community, who wanted to wear the ritual garlands for the festive period, being denied entry into the temple and the priest handing them the garlands keeping them outside the threshold has gone viral on social media platforms.
Yapaladinni Police officers, however, have said no police complaint about the matter has been filed so far. In addition, Dalit leaders in Athkur have said no such incident has occurred in the village, but the police officers are conducting an inquiry since youngsters have alleged that they were denied entry into the temple.
The temple priest has also refuted the charges against him, clarifying that action will be taken if a complaint is filed.
