Former CCB Inspector Arrested in Bitcoin Scam Investigation

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Central Crime Branch (CCB) apprehended a police inspector of the department, marking its fourth arrest in connection with the 2020 bitcoin scam case.

Chandradhar, a former police inspector with the CCB, had been evading arrest even after his anticipatory bail was rejected. The SIT tracked him down and arrested him from his residence in Vidyaranyapura, North Bengaluru, on Wednesday. “He had gone into hiding after being summoned for questioning,” a source in the SIT said.

The arrest comes in the wake of an FIR filed by the SIT’s investigating officer, K Ravishankar, at the cybercrime police station.

Chandradhar is accused of helping the illegal access of Bitcoin wallets belonging to hacker Srikrishna’s money manager, Robin Khandelwal. He allegedly siphoned off Bitcoins worth ₹1.8 crore and also destroyed evidence related to these transactions. Santosh Kumar K. S. (CEO of GCID Technologies Pvt Ltd), Prashanth Babu D. M. (police inspector in charge of CCB’s technical support centre in 2020), and two other inspectors, Lakshmikanthaiah and Shridhar K. Pujar, are also named in the FIR.

During the investigation into Srikrishna and Khandelwal’s activities, it was found that Chandradhar, along with two other CCB officers, sought technical assistance from Santosh Kumar, who allegedly accessed Khandelwal’s wallet at his company’s office in HSR Layout between December 30, 2020, and January 6, 2021.

Apart from Chandradhar, two other police officers, Prashanth Babu and Lakshmikanthaiah, had been arrested in connection with the Bitcoin scam case. Srikrishna is currently in judicial custody, while Khandelwal is being interrogated by the SIT.

Inspector Pujar, another accused, has gone into hiding after the recent Supreme Court intervention, officials aware of the matter said. The development comes after the court stayed the Karnataka High Court’s order granting anticipatory bail to Pujar.

“We have taken Chandradhar into custody for five days after producing him before the court on Wednesday,” an SIT officer told HT.

Chandradhar is facing charges under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 426 (mischief), 34 (common intention), 36 (omission), 37 (cooperation in crime), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 204 (destruction of documentary evidence).

The FIR has further implicated the four officers in two other cases filed in 2020 in Ashok Nagar and Bengaluru City cybercrime police stations.