Police in India are currently hunting for the suspects in a Bitcoin (BTC) kidnapping and extortion case. Nalin Kotadiya and Jatin Patel are among the suspects the CID are trying to locate.
The authorities have possess six of the suspects with ties to the extortion case. Additionally, there has been a recovery of roughly Rs 7.4 crore. However, there are still 11 other suspects who have not come forward. The authorities believe the suspects took 176 bitcoins, with a value of roughly Rs 9.45 crore. The victim is a Surat-based realtor, Shailesh Bhatt. The suspects reportedly kidnapped and extorted Bhatt for bitcoins in his wallet.
The CID has issued a warning for Nalin Kotadiya to turn himself in before 3:00 PM on Friday. This comes after Kirit Paladiya, Bhatt’s former business partner, revealed they met with Kotadiya in Surat and Gandhinagar prior to the kidnapping. Kotadiya risks arrest if he fails to yield to the police requests. CID officer Dipankar Trivedi revealed Paladiya has been misleading authorities for some time, but forensics were able to decode his lies.
The authorities also revealed that Paladiya held on to the stolen bitcoins after the kidnapping and later distributed them to his buddies and corrupt police officers that were part of the elaborate kidnapping and extortion. Paladiya is believed to have shared 15% of the stolen money with Ketan Patel, Nalin Kotadiya and Jatin Patel. He also distributed another 15 percent of the loot among the police officers that played part in the plot.
Although a total of Rs 7.4 crore has so far been recovered, the authorities are still in pursuit of a remaining Rs 2.05 crore which they believe is still be held by Kotadiya. Trivedi states the CID believes Jatin Patel is hiding part of Kotadiya’s remaining amount. Additionally, lawyer Ketan Patel might have the rest.
During the investigation, Ketan told authorities Jatin flew out of the country to seek treatment for a medical emergency. However, the authorities have discredited his statement and have already sent out a search party for Jatin. Three CID teams are in pursuit of Kotadiya in Amreli. He reportedly made a call to CID officials using a phone number from within the city. He also sent a fax from a PCO location in Amreli.
