Bitcoin extortion case: Accused inspector created false case against businessman, states supplementary chargesheet

The CID (Crime) on Tuesday filed the supplementary chargesheet against jailed police inspector Anant Patel. It said that after learning about Bhatt’s complaint in the home department, Patel got a “false complaint typed by his constable Jairajsinh Gohil the same day to create evidence against Bhatt” on his alleged involvement in the case of kidnapping and extortion.

Patel was arrested by the CID along with 10 other policemen, including his senior Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel, from Amreli district for allegedly kidnapping Bhatt on February 11. Bhatt has alleged that Patel, then heading the Local Crime Branch (LCB), Amreli, came to Gandhinagar in an official vehicle with the accused policemen and kidnapped him. The policemen allegedly took Bhatt, his friend Kirit Paladiya and his driver to Keshav Farm on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, where he was confined for more than five hours, beaten up and asked to transfer Bitcoins worth over Rs 12 crore to the accused policemen. Later, it was revealed that Paladiya had masterminded the kidnapping and misappropriated the Bitcoins. Bhatt had promised to give Rs 32 crore cash to his abductors but it was not delivered, the chargesheet said.

The chargesheet also alleged that Patel and his then senior SP Patel sent a police team including Vijay Vadher, Babubhai Der, Sanjay Padmani, Jagdish, Umed Mehta illegally to Mumbai to trace one Dhaval Mavani to “extort” Bitcoins. CID officials said that Mavani was kidnapped by Bhatt and other accused in January this year. Bhatt extorted 2,256 Bitcoins, roughly worth Rs 145 crore, by posing as an income tax officer named P D Jadeja. Patel and the other accused got this information and with the help of Paladiya allegedly planned to kidnap Bhatt in a similar fashion.