Bitcoin scam: Bengaluru top cop breaks silence on hacker Sriki

BENGALURU: The city police have broken their silence on the hacker Srikrishna alias Sriki and the alleged Bitcoin (BTC) scam. “Since distorted reports are appearing in media about the Bitcoin case, it is stated that investigation conducted by CCB has been done in a fair and professional manner,” stated City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant in a release on Saturday.

“On November 4, 2020, based on credible information, regarding a drug consignment procured through darknet, CCB Police secured one accused and seized 500 grams of hydro ganja. A case was registered at KG Nagar police station. Ten other accused, including Srikrishna alias Sriki, were arrested,” he said. 

Srikrishna confessed to his involvement in alleged hacking of cryptocurrency websites. A complaint was registered in Cottonpet police station. “Neither any Bitcoins were transferred from the account of Srikrishna, nor any Bitcoin was lost. A government order dated December 8, 2020 to open a Bitcoin account was obtained. Srikrishna showed a BTC wallet, which contained 31.8 BTCs.

The wallet password was changed in the presence of cyber experts, government panchas and the entire procedure was submitted to the court. Subsequently, Court permission was obtained to use the password to transfer the Bitcoins to a police wallet account. Upon reaching the wallet shown by Srikrishna, it showed 186.811 Bitcoins. Cyber experts opined that the account claimed by the accused as his personal account was in fact a live wallet of an exchange and the accused did not have a private key for this,” said Pant.

The claim made on Whale Alert that 14,682 stolen Bitfinex Bitcoins were transferred was “completely unsubstantiated. The law enforcement system/ investigating agencies cannot act on unknown social media handles,” he said. 

On the allegation that the police drugged Srikrishna, Pant said on January 11, Sriki had submitted before the court that the police had not forced him to consume drugs. “The Court questioned him if he had consumed Alprazolam and the accused said he had the drug during police custody. Blood and urine samples were collected and sent to FSL... It gave a report stating that  no presence of drugs was found,” said Pant.