Crypto Raids: Siddaramaiah Accuses Central Government of Bias

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah openly criticized the central government on Tuesday, accusing its agencies of unfairly targeting Congress members through property searches, while BJP leaders remain unscathed. His remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted multiple raids on individuals with ties to the Congress party, in connection with a major cryptocurrency-related money laundering case.

The operation, which occurred on Monday, involved searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) across more than a dozen locations. Those investigated include Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, sons of Congress MLA N A Haris, as well as Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan. An alleged hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, known as Sriki, was also a significant focus of the probe.

The roots of this case trace back to various Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets from 2017, dealing with the hacking of websites on a national and international scale, the theft of bitcoins, and their sale through crypto platforms, purportedly orchestrated by Sriki. Officials claim that the Nalapads and Khan were beneficiaries of the illicit proceeds from these crypto-linked activities.