Man who transferred Rs 1.32 crore to SP tracked

AHMEDABAD: CID crime sleuths say they have tracked a Surat man who had transferred Rs 1.32 crore to Amreli superintendent of police (SP) through an angadiya firm. CID crime sources confirmed that the money did reach Amreli SP Jagdish Patel but then vanished in thin air.
“We are tracking the money trail and have got some important clues about whom the money is with,” said a senior CID crime official. “As of now Jagdish Patel remains non-cooperative. Sooner or later, we will find the money.” CID officials late on Thursday night and during early hours of Friday raided about 13 places in connection with the bitcoin case.

“Some places belonged to the relatives of Jagdish Patel and Anant Patel, the Amreli inspector,” said a CID official. “We also raided the premises belonging to suspects who were in contact with the two Patels. These suspects also include some low-rank police personnel.”

The raids were conducted in Surat, Amreli, Nadiad, Ahmedabad, and Gandhinagar. “We will conduct more raids in the coming days to track the money, ” the official said.

CID sources said that former BJP MLA of Dhari, Nalin Kotadiya, whose name surfaced during investigations, will be summoned for questioning once Jagdish Patel and Anant Patel are sent to judicial custody.

“We have got permission to interrogate Ketan Patel, another accused in the case, in the jail premises for two days. We have exhausted his remand period,” the official said. CID officials said Kotadiya’s nephew Sanjay Kotadiya, who lives in Mumbai, could also be summoned again for questioning.

Parallel inquiry

CID officials said a confidential inquiry is under way to get to the root of the bitcoin case. “We need to find out why Jagdish Patel and Anant Patel allegedly got involved in the case and at whose instance,” said a CID official.

CBI inspector transferred

Shailesh Bhatt had alleged that CBI inspector Sunil Nair, who was posted in Gandhinagar, had extorted Rs 4.5 crore from him by threatening to file a case. During interrogation, Nair had said that he knew Kirit Paladiya — Bhatt’s business partner — but denied extorting money. Sources said Nair has been transferred from Gandhinagar but the the silence on his transfer has raised questions.