Maharashtra polls: What's BJP's 'Bitcoin scam' allegation against Sule, Patole
What's the story
On Tuesday—the eve of Maharashtra assembly elections—a controversy erupted with allegations against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule and state Congress chief Nana Patole. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused them of misappropriating Bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to influence the elections. The party presented audio recordings as evidence, claiming they implicate Sule and Patole in a conspiracy.
Accusations made
Former IPS officer accuses Sule, Patole of misappropriation
The allegations were first leveled by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ravindranath Patil. He alleged Bitcoins were transferred into different accounts during the probe of a 2018 fraud case. Patil alleged Gaurav Mehta, an audit firm employee and key witness in the case, told him about a Bitcoin-containing hardware wallet being replaced on the orders of Amitabh Gupta, former Commissioner of Police in Pune.
Evidence presented
BJP presents audio clips as evidence, Sule refutes allegations
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had played the audio clips at a press conference, alleging that Sule and Patole were involved in illegal Bitcoin transactions to help the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the polls. However, Sule has denied the allegations, saying the audio clips don't feature her voice. She lodged a criminal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Pune's Cyber Cell against Mehta and Patil for spreading false information.
Legal action
Sule issues criminal defamation notice against BJP spokesperson
Sule also sent a criminal defamation notice to Trivedi for making what she termed "outrightly false allegations." She said, "It's appalling that such baseless allegations are made by Sudhanshu Trivedi, yet not surprising as it's a clear case of spreading false information, the night before elections." Meanwhile, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and Sule's cousin Ajit Pawar admitted one voice in the audio was Sule's. He demanded an investigation into the allegations.