CM Bommai accuses Cong of playing politics over alleged bitcoin scam issue

Bengaluru: Accusing the Congress of playing politics on the alleged bitcoin scam issue, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday once again asked the opposition party to give documents, if any, to the investigating agencies.

"You should ask them (Congress) the question, what I have said is, if there is any document, give it to the ED or to the police, it will be taken seriously. I have already said that if there is any truth, it will be investigated," Bommai said in response to a question on the bitcoin issue.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Congress wants to "keep the non-issue alive, and it is nothing but politics".

"There is no question of setting any narrative, there is no story, so how can you set a narrative there," he added.

There have been speculations for some time now about involvement of politically influential people in the scam after CCB officials seized bitcoins worth Rs nine crore from a city-based hacker Srikrishna alias Sriki, who is also accused of hacking into government portals, sourcing drugs through the dark net, and paying for it through cryptocurrency.

Congress leaders have alleged the involvement of senior BJP leaders, their family members and senior officials in the scam, and have accused the government of trying to cover up; the ruling party too in its counter has alleged involvement of leaders from the grand old party.