Fourteen people, including 11 police officers and a former BJP MLA, were sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the 2018 abduction and extortion of crypto from a Surat businessman.
Special Judge B.B. Jadav in Ahmedabad found the group guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping for ransom, illegal detention, assault, and corruption charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The plot and the seizure
The victim, businessman Shailesh Bhatt, was taken to Keshav Farm near Gandhinagar after recovering Bitcoin from BitConnect developer Dhaval Mavani. Authorities say the plot aimed to seize those recovered coins and force transfers and cash payments.
Prosecutors say the scheme began when officials learned Bhatt had recovered some funds in Bitcoin. The court heard that Bhatt received 752 Bitcoin from Mavani and that 176 of those coins were stored with an associate, Kirit Paladiya.
The remaining coins were sold for roughly $5 million. On Feb. 11, 2018, local officers led by crime branch inspector Anant Patel allegedly abducted Bhatt. He was beaten and forced to admit the holdings and to hand over crypto and cash.
Also Read: Bybit India Introduces 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Trading and Withdrawal Fees From July 7
Extortion and the aftermath
Bhatt was released only after he agreed to hand over part of the Bitcoin and $3.6 million in cash, the court record says. When that deal broke down, the accused forced Bhatt to sell 34 Bitcoin from Paladiya’s wallet.
That sale yielded about $150,000 in what the court found to be extortion. Bhatt later took his case to the Union Home Ministry, which led to a formal probe and arrests.
Court evidence and verdict
The prosecution called 173 witnesses during the trial. Investigators arrested 15 people in all. The court convicted 14 of them and acquitted one defendant, Jatin Patel.
Among the convicted were former Amreli district superintendent of police Jagdish Patel and ex-MLA Nalin Kotadiya. The court ordered the confiscation of gold ornaments recovered from Amreli SP Patel. Those items will be sent to the Master of Mint in Mumbai.
Legal and public corruption charges
All 11 police officers face charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act for misconduct as public servants.
The convictions highlight how officials abused their power to try to take private assets, and special public prosecutor Amit Patel led the government’s case in court.
Wider context for crypto in India
The case comes as India grapples with how to tax and regulate virtual digital assets. UnoCrypto earlier reported that taxpayers paid as much as Rs 705 crore in taxes on gains from virtual digital assets for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The Finance Ministry has told Parliament that virtual digital assets remain unregulated under current law. That regulatory gap has raised questions about how to protect investors and how to deal with crimes that use crypto.
The court’s ruling sends a clear message that public officials can face severe penalties for abusing their office. Victims of financial crime now have a judicial record that backs up their claims.
Also Read: Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX Confirms 100% INR Withdrawals After $44M Hack