K’taka government to reopen Bitcoin scam, to get it probed thoroughly
Bengaluru, June 27: The Congress government in Karnataka on Tuesday said it will get the Bitcoin scam taken place during the previous BJP government thoroughly investigated.
The case is likely to be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Home Minister Dr Parameshwara has hinted.
Speaking to reporters in Hassan today, CM Siddaramaiah said all irregularities and scams of the BJP government including the Bitcoin scam will be probed.
Parameshwara charged that the BJP tried to close the matter but the Congress government will get it investigated.
''Regarding Bitcoin, I have said that whatever incident has happened will be thoroughly investigated. For whatever reason, the previous government had closed it. When we were in the opposition, we had said that we will get it investigated if we come to power. We will take all steps to reinvestigate it," Parameshwara told reporters here.
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He also said the Bengaluru Police Commissioner has written to the Director General of Police recommending that this case should be handed over to the CID for investigation. ''After discussion we will decide whether the case should be given to the CID or other agency. CID is capable. We have given it (CID) a new shape and senior officers have been deputed there. A new team has been constituted. So there should not be any surprise if the case is handed over to the CID,'' the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police B Dayananda said there was suspicion that this case involved a network of national and international level. ''Since it is apparent that this act was done using high end technological methodologies, we have written to the Director General of Police with a view that a high level probe should be conducted by an expert investigation agency,'' Dayananda told reporters here.
According to him, one stage of investigation has happened and further probe was needed to trace the involvement of some more networks because some hackers were involved, who had hacked it in an expert manner.
''They (hackers) have also hacked the government's e-procurement portal. So, an organised investigation was required,'' the police Commissioner said.
The alleged hacker Srikrishna alias Sriki, who has been projected as the kingpin, was arrested after he fell into the police radar for his lavish lifestyle.
He would allegedly stay in five-star hotels and dine and drink with his team.
Sriki's associates alleged that he would hack into poker websites and also the platform for trading bitcoin. Now, the Congress government is claiming that the case could not be investigated properly.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
