Mumbai: Just hours before polling in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a bombshell accusation, alleging that NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule and State Congress President Nana Patole were involved in a major cryptocurrency scam. However, Supriya Sule denied these charges, calling them tactics to manipulate the voters.
The allegations made by a retired police officer, Ravindra Nath Patil, and presented through purported audio clips and chats, have thrown the election race into disarray and ignited a major political firestorm.
The core of the BJP’s accusations centres on the alleged misuse of cryptocurrency funds, specifically Bitcoin, originating from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case. The BJP claims that these “illicit funds” were channelled to support the election campaigns of Sule and Patole. The allegations have been accompanied by purported audio recordings of conversations between Sule and a purported witness and shared chat logs that allegedly implicate the two leaders in the fraudulent activities.
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Supriya Sule vehemently denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations a “familiar tactic” to manipulate voters. She countered by lodging a criminal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Cyber Crime Department, challenging the allegations and demanding a public debate with BJP representatives. Sule also threatened legal action against BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who led the press conference detailing the allegations.
The BJP’s spokesperson, Sudhanshu Trivedi, presented audio clips and chats as evidence, alleging that a former police officer had been contacted by an accused dealer concerning a Bitcoin transaction. Trivedi further demanded transparency from the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance regarding any involvement in illegal Bitcoin transactions and urged the ECI to monitor the situation closely. “The subject of the chats involves a former police officer, who had previously spent some time in jail for an allegation, being contacted by an accused dealer. The dealer requests a transaction involving bitcoins to be converted into cash,” Trivedi said.
Beyond Sule and Patole, the allegations extend to former Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and cybercrime officer Bhagyashree Navatke, who, according to Patil, received protection from the MVA leaders. Patil claims that a key witness in the 2018 case, Gaurav Mehta, informed him about the alleged replacement of a Bitcoin hardware wallet, seized during a raid, with another wallet under the direction of Gupta. Patil further alleges a cover-up of the crime by these officials.
The retired IPS officer, who also investigated the 2018 case, has claimed that he was framed for transferring cryptocurrencies to his account, and his colleagues have altered that evidence. The claims, detailed by news agency IANS, further raise serious questions about the integrity of the investigation and the potential for political interference in the matter.
Adding fuel to the fire, Patil alleges that Mehta shared numerous voice recordings via the Signal app. These recordings reportedly include messages from Supriya Sule requesting cash in exchange for influence regarding a pending investigation. The recordings allegedly depict Sule assuring Mehta that the investigation would be handled once their party assumed power.
Patil told IANS that Mehta sent several voice recordings on ‘Signal’ — social media app — including messages from Supriya Sule requesting cash in exchange for Bitcoin. In the recordings, Sule allegedly assured Mehta that there was no need to worry about the investigation, as they would handle it once they came to power.
