A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing the alleged bitcoin scam in the state has received only 10 responses out of 32 requests for information sent to various cryptocurrency exchanges across the world, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Wednesday. The requests are linked to alleged hacking by international hacker Srikrishna Ramesh, 30, also known as Sriki.
Parameshwar said there was a delay in responding to requests through various available channels, such as the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), letters rogatory (a popular means of obtaining judicial assistance from abroad in the absence of a treaty or other agreement), and Interpol Blue Corner Notices. Investigations in seven out of nine cases registered against the hacker and his associates have been delayed.
In response to a question raised by BJP MLA Basangowda Patil Yatnal in the Legislative Assembly on the status of the SIT probe, he said, “Since companies are involved in this case, cryptocurrency exchangeAnd in international exchanges abroad, evidence must be collected according to the law and this work is being done through Interpol. Information is slowly coming from different countries.”
The SIT has sent 15 MLAT requests, seven letters rogatory, and 10 Interpol Blue Corner notices. So far, it has received 10 responses: five responses to MLAT requests, two responses to sickness letters, and three responses to Blue Corner notices, the minister said.
“In order to complete the investigation quickly, information has been requested through correspondence, all legal initiatives are being taken to complete the investigation,” he said.
The Home Minister said international networks were probably involved in the alleged Bitcoin scam and the accused were experts in Bitcoin and the dark web. The government also said that the SIT has completed investigations in two of the nine cases linked to hacker Srikrishna Ramesh.
In one case, the value and quantity of stolen bitcoins was determined based on a complaint filed by trader Harish BV. In 2017, he reported that 60.6 bitcoins worth Rs 1.14 crore were stolen from the Unocoin exchange in India. Home Minister He also noted that in other cases, there was no specific mention of the number of bitcoins stolen.
The investigation into the alleged breach of the cryptocurrency exchange by the hacker aims to determine whether funds stolen from these exchanges were used to pay police officers and others after the hacker’s arrest in November 2020. The Bengaluru Crime Branch police arrested the hacker for allegedly purchasing drugs with cryptocurrency. The Dark Web Using Bitcoin.
After his arrest in November 2020, Sriki told the police that he had hacked several international exchanges between 2016 and 2020. He claimed to have used the stolen bitcoins to enjoy a lavish lifestyle with his associates. Additionally, he said he provided police officers with a significant amount of cryptocurrency in his possession after his arrest.
Following allegations of widespread corruption involving crime branch policemen and political leaders in the handling of hacker cases during the BJP government’s tenure in Karnataka from 2019 to 2023, the newly formed Congress government set up the SIT in June 2023.
According to the statements of witnesses who assisted the police in investigating the hacker in 2020, Shrike had more than 4,000,000 bitcoins worth around Rs 850 during the SIT’s argument to deny bail to two police officers involved in the alleged scam. Crores at the time of his arrest in November 2020.
The SIT found that Sriki had hacked the Unocoin cryptocurrency exchange in Tumkur, Karnataka in June 2017, stealing 60.6 bitcoins worth Rs 1.14 crore at the time.
“There is a need to collect evidence of the hacking from the exchanges that were allegedly hacked. This will help corroborate the hacker’s claim and verify that the stolen funds were used for payments in India,” said an SIT official.
Hacker Srikrishna claimed hacking after he was arrested in 2020
The Bengaluru Crime Branch had initially arrested Sriki and his accountant Robin Khandelwal in November 2020 for allegedly purchasing drugs online using Bitcoin. The darknet drug procurement case cracked several cyber crimes in Karnataka in 2019, including the theft of Rs 11.5 crore from the Karnataka e-governance cell.
During his police custody following his arrest in November 2020, Sriki gave a voluntary statement to the police. He claimed to have been involved in several hacking incidents, including one on the Bitfinex exchange in the British Virgin Islands, where he was part of a hacking group based in the Netherlands.
“Bitfinex was my first major Bitcoin exchange hack. The exchange was hacked twice, and I was the first person to do so. The second example was a simple spear phishing attack in which two Israeli hackers working for the military gained access to an employee’s computer that gave them access to AWS provided access to the cloud account,” Shrikee told the police.
The SIT is probing several police officers of the Bengaluru Crime Branch who were active during the last year 2020-2021. Four of these officers have been arrested for wrongdoing, along with a cyber expert who assisted the police in investigating the hacker cases.
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