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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Actor Pravina Deshpande dies
Mumbai (PTI): Actor Pravina Deshpande, known for playing supporting characters in films such as “Ready”, “Gabbar is Back” and “D Day”, has died.
The actor's family shared the news in a post on her Instagram page, saying that Despande breathed her last on Tuesday.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you that Mrs Pravina Deshpande has left for her heavenly abode on 17th February 2026,” the note read.
According to media reports, Deshpande died after a prolonged battle with blood cancer at the age of 60. She is survived by her husband and two children.
Desphande worked extensively in Marathi theatre, shows and films. She gained wider recognition for her work in Hindi cinema.
Some of her popular shows and films were “Pariniti”, “Avagat”, “Ghar Ek Mandir”, “Kumkum - Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan”, “Ek Villian”, “Parmanu” The story of Pokhran”, among others.
She was last seen in the Netflix series, “Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web”.
The Cine and TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA), a trade union body of actors, wrote on X, “CINTAA expresses its condolences on the demise of Pravina Deshpande ji (member since 2008).”
Deshpande’s colleagues from the film industry also took to social media to express grief.
“Beautiful person. She’d met me in 2017 to audition for our film. It was a very pleasant experience," filmmaker Aditya Kriplani said on X.
Actor Vaishnavi Dhanraj said, “May her soul rest in peace.”
Her last rites were held on Tuesday afternoon at the Hindu crematorium, Chakala Parsiwada, in suburban Andheri.
