Maharashtra Bitcoin row: BJP targets Supriya Sule and Nana Patole
The BJP on Wednesday intensified its attack on Maharashtra opposition leaders Supriya Sule and Nana Patole for their alleged involvement in using Bitcoins illegally to fund elections, and claimed their roles will surface during the probe.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also targeted Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to hold a press conference on the issue.
In a press conference, Patra rejected the opposition’s claim that the BJP was behind the “conspiracy” to target them amid the Maharashtra polls as he claimed that the suspected crypto currency fraud occurred years back and the opposition alliance used the money in previous elections as well.
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“It appears that the money involved so far in this scam is ₹235 crore,” he claimed.
Sule has rejected the charges, including the audio records purportedly featuring her voice, as fake and said she has filed complaint with the Election Commission and the Maharashtra Police.
“Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters,” she said.
She said on X, “The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn-worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India.”
Patra claimed that the matter came to light as Gaurav Mehta, a person involved in crypto currency trade and an alleged link to this case, decided to go public because he feared danger to his life after he encashed the Bitcoins to help opposition leaders.
The BJP leader claimed that the matter has its roots in a currency fraud in 2018, and a former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who had joined private sector and was tapped as an expert to help the investigation, ended up getting arrested for misappropriating a crypto wallet.
Citing Patil’s comments, Patra claimed two other IPS officers were involved in the missing wallet.
“Mehta had then given evidence against Patil and shared the alleged voice records of Sule and Patole,” he noted.
Patra rejected the defence of Sule, claiming that every suspect says the same thing when caught.