Four police officers, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), have been granted relief in the high-profile Bitcoin case as the Karnataka Home Department refused to approve prosecution against them. The Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Special Investigation Team (SIT) has consequently dropped charges and filed a ‘B’ report before the court, as confirmed by the police on Thursday. The officers involved are DySP Sridhar Pujar and Inspectors D.M. Prashanth Babu, Lakshmikanthaiah, and Chandradhar.
The investigation by the CID SIT focused on the alleged involvement of these officers in the 2020–21 Bitcoin case, which included cyber expert Santosh Kumar, hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias “Sriki,” and Robin Khandeval. The probe centered on the purported illegal transfer of a significant amount in Bitcoins from Robin Khandeval’s cryptocurrency wallet, along with other alleged offenses like cheating and record manipulation. The SIT had claimed to have collected evidence related to these alleged crimes during its investigation.
Since the accused are all serving police officers, obtaining sanction from the competent authority was mandatory before prosecuting them under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Karnataka Police Act. The Home Department declined three separate requests seeking prosecution sanction against the officers. Consequently, the SIT excluded their names from the charge sheet and presented a ‘B’ report to the court.
In cases involving public servants, Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act mandates prior approval from the competent authority before the court can proceed with charges. Similarly, prosecution of police personnel also necessitates approval under the relevant provisions of the Karnataka Police Act. The Bitcoin case, investigated by the CID SIT in 2020–21, had sparked a significant political dispute between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka. Allegations included claims that hacker Sriki had been unlawfully detained and that around Rs 1.83 crore worth of Bitcoins were transferred during the investigation.
With the denial of prosecution sanction, the four police officers have been granted relief in the case, and the CID SIT has concluded proceedings against them by submitting the ‘B’ report to the court.
