Former Indian politician arrested for cryptocurrency extortion

Former Indian politician Nalin Kotadiya has been arrested for alleged links to the syndicate that allegedly masterminded Shailesh Bhatt's kidnapping and for extortion.

Kotadiya, information about whom was obtained during the interrogation of Kirit Paladia in May of this year, was hiding from the law until Saturday, September 9. His arrest was carried out by police from Dhulia in Maharashtra. 

The former politician was put on the wanted list immediately after he failed to appear for questioning when summoned. The summons was filed in connection with a complaint of cryptocurrency extortion by Kotadia. 

Kotadiya, however, declared his innocence on all charges. In this case, he and his nephew Kirit Paladia are accused of having links with the masterminds behind the kidnapping of Shailesh Bhatt on February 11 for the purpose of Bitcoin extortion. The investigation, however, revealed that the operation was planned by Paladia, who, after the kidnapping, planned to share the loot with his accomplices.

Retaliation

Despite the accusations against him, Kotadiya has several times alleged that Shailesh Bhatt - in this case the victim - was himself involved in the case of the kidnapping of two investors, during which he received 2,300 tokens of an unnamed cryptocurrency in February 2018. And therefore his, Kotadiyi’s, crime cannot be interpreted as kidnapping.

The arrest of the politician was only the first high-profile case in this case; in fact, it may become the first step of the Indian police on the long path of unraveling schemes for “alternative mining” of cryptocurrency in India.

According to www.ccn.com