Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday denied the allegations of Bitcoin misappropriation. They have initiated legal action against former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ravindranath Patil and the BJP for making the false accusations on the eve of voting for Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024. Mr.
Patil accused them of misappropriating Bitcoins from a 2019 cryptocurrency fraud case and using the same to fund the ongoing Maharashtra assembly elections. Mr. Patil on Tuesday alleged that former Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta and former deputy commissioner of police Bhagyashri Nautake, who was handling the cybercrime investigations, were involved in the misappropriation of Bitcoins at the behest of Ms.
Sule and Mr. Patole. He also named one Gaurav Mehta, an employee of an audit firm.
“Mehta sent me some voice notes he had received on WhatsApp. There were three audio messages from Supriya Sule where she asks for cash in exchange for bitcoins. She also says that he (Gaurav Mehta) does not need to worry about inquiry, they will handle it when they come to power,” Mr.
Patil said. The former IPS officer also alleged that he received few more audio clips from Mr. Mehta, which were the alleged conversations between Mr.
Gupta and Mr. Patole, who was asking why there was a delay in cash conversion and the former Pune police commissioner assuring the Congress leader that four crypto wallets had been create.