Nine police officials, including an inspector of the Amreli unit of the Crime Branch, were booked by CID (Crime) today for allegedly kidnapping a builder and extorting cryptocurrency and cash from him.
"The CID has registered an offence against nine police officials of Amreli Crime Branch, including its inspector Anant Patel, and have formed an SIT. Two Amreli CB police constables, Babubhai Der and Vijay Vadher, and one Ketal Patel, have also been rounded up," DGP, CID (Crime), Ashish Bhatia told reporters at a press conference in Gandhinagar.
An investigation was launched in February by the CID (Crime), on the direction of the state government, after a Surat-based builder, Shailesh Bhatt, alleged that he was kidnapped from near a hotel in Gandhinagar by the accused policemen on February 9.
Bhatt had alleged that he was taken to a farmhouse where inspector Patel beat him and forced him to transfer 200 bitcoins.
Patel also demanded Rs 32 crore as extortion money for his release, Bhatia said.
Speaking about the cryptocurrency, Bhatia said. "As far as 200 bitcoins are concerned, we are yet to get evidence of their transfer, but investigation regarding this is underway."