The Karnataka government is likely to probe the “illegal activities” of a 25-year-old computer hacker, who was arrested in a drugs case last year, handed over to the police’s criminal investigation department in the wake of the opposition’s political heat. On his alleged crypto currency transactions involving “influential politicians”.
Sources said state police chief Praveen Sood has given voice to the CID over the transfer of around five hacking cases involving Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki, who were being investigated by police in Bengaluru since 2018. “The papers of the case have not been transferred yet,” he said.
The CID is already probing two hacking cases involving Srikrishna and his associates: the 2019 case of the theft of Rs 11.5 crore from the e-procurement unit of the state’s e-governance cell and the 2020 ransomware on Adani’s website. attack attempt. Group operated Udupi Power Corporation Limited
Of the seven cases involving Srikrishna since his arrest, police have filed charge sheets in three while investigations are pending in four. Presently he is out on bail in all the cases.
In the past week, these cases made headlines again, when the opposition Congress claimed that the police was going easy on Srikrishna and his associates, and alleged that some states BJP The leaders benefited from the hacker’s crypto currency access.
On 27 October, former CM Siddaramaiah tweeted: “Informed Karnataka politicians are reported to be involved in the drugs and bitcoin scam. It is worrying that the investigating authorities are trying to close the case to help those politicians. “
Srikrishna, a young Bengaluru-based man who completed a computer course in the Netherlands around 2014, is considered a “brilliant hacker” even in police circles. His arrest in Bengaluru in November 2020 for buying drugs with bitcoin on the darknet, along with some Bengaluru-based associates, revealed a gamut of hacking crimes.
DS Sudhanva, Srikrishna’s lawyer in the drugs case, had argued during the bail hearing that his client was “innocent” and was facing a “false complaint”.
When contacted on Thursday, Sudhanva said that he no longer represents Sri Krishna, but only some of his associates. Sources said Srikrishna has changed lawyers several times over the years. “We do not know why these cases are erupting again. We do not understand this,” Sudhanva said.
Srikrishna is the son of a chartered accountant, while some of his close associates include the son of a doctor, a law student and two sons of a former bank director, one of whom was studying in the UK.
In January 2021, when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Bengaluru, the police organized an exhibition to showcase their state-of-the-art work. One of the demonstrations was the arrest of Sri Krishna. A police statement accompanying Srikrishna’s picture said: “3 bitcoin exchanges and 10 poker websites hacked. Bengaluru police have so far seized bitcoins worth Rs 9 crore from him.
The price of one bitcoin is currently over $62,000 or about Rs 46 lakh.
However, police sources said, it was later revealed that the hacker had “misled crime branch officials to believe that he had access to bitcoins that were actually in an exchange and were not in their possession.” and claimed to have recovered bitcoins from it”.
The present controversy has arisen due to the claims made by the accused during the investigation that he had illegally accessed more than 5,000 bitcoins and other crypto currencies. “Who now holds these bitcoins? Have they transferred it to the accounts of investigative agencies? Or are they ignorant?’” Siddaramaiah said.
A police officer confirmed that they were not able to find the stolen bitcoins. “He (Srikrishna) is saying that he accessed the bitcoins by hacking. It is mentioned in the chargesheet. But where are the bitcoins presently, it is not known,” police sources said.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has alleged that it was the failure of the Congress when it was in power between 2013 and 2018, which led to a rise in hacker activities.
“Srikrishna was named as an accused in a case registered in February 2018. Though the other accused were arrested, they were allowed to get anticipatory bail. Had he been arrested and investigated, his other activities would have come to the fore. Why did they let him go?” said Bommai.
Warning that allegations against the BJP government could backfire on the Congress, Bommai said: “We sent the case to the Enforcement Directorate in March this year and the CBI Interpol branch in April.” The ED is currently probing the hacker for alleged money laundering.
According to sources, Sri Krishna was involved in collecting bitcoins from a young age. “He saw value in this a long time ago when crypto currency was getting cheaper. He has collected bitcoin, ether and other crypto currency when their price is low,” the sources said.
Srikrishna was first named in a criminal case in February 2018 – following a pub controversy in Bengaluru – as an aide of Congress MLA NA Haris’ son Mohammad Haris.
In the case of drugs, he is accused of transferring funds to buy drugs on the darknet to a friend Robin Khandelwal, who used to run a bitcoin trading service. Sources said the CID cyber cell’s investigation into the Rs 11.5 crore e-procurement cell hack in August 2019 also found technical evidence linking Srikrishna to the crime.
Police have indicated that Khandelwal’s bitcoin trading service was allegedly used by Srikrishna to buy crypto currency as well as sell crypto and route funds to beneficiaries through the hawala route. Khandelwal’s name is there in three police chargesheets.
Police sources said Srikrishna’s hacking skills have reportedly been used by thriving gangs in Bengaluru, including some close associates and kin of political leaders, who commit online crimes since around 2015. “He was taken prisoner by a gang and forced to earn money for him,” police sources said.
Two cases are pending in Bengaluru for Srikrishna’s associates beating up their friends in an attempt to trace the hacker. Sources said, “On one occasion, Shriki broke a limb while jumping down from the first-floor apartment to escape from the gang.”
Children of many politicians across party lines in Karnataka are associated with Sri Krishna. According to court records, Sri Krishna was often kept in five-star hotels by affluent associates to carry out his activities.
One of the cases involving Srikrishna is the alleged hacking of KYC information of customers of gaming firm Baji Networks in 2018. A complaint was filed by the firm’s owner Puneet Singh in December 2018, alleging that the hackers had illegally transferred Rs. 70 lakhs from the firm in the account of a company called Infiji IT Solutions. Sri Krishna’s name has been taken in this case but no charge sheet has been filed so far.
In another case, Arvind Balakrishna, director of online gaming company Pacific Gaming, has alleged that Srikrishna and his associates stole data from two online gaming brands operated by the firm – Casino 143 and Poker Cent – causing huge losses.
CID cybercrime sources said Srikrishna was also served notices for his participation in the e-procurement hack investigation and alleged ransomware attack on the power company.
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