Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister, claimed on Wednesday that the audio in the alleged voice notes played by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was that of Congresswoman Nana Patole and Baramati MP Supriya Sule. In connection with the 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has requested an investigation into the purportedly stolen bitcoins.
“I have worked with Patole for many years and can recognise his and Supriya’s voice. The audio in the purported voice notes is of the two. The probe will bring out the truth,” said Ajit, who is contesting the poll against his nephew Yugendra of NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), after he cast his vote at Baramati early morning.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said, “I saw media reports and there is a need for probe since the allegations are serious. It is the right of people to know the truth.”
Former Pune-based IPS officer Ravindranath Patil accused Sule and Patole of embezzling bitcoins from a cryptocurrency fraud case in 2018 and using the money to finance the Maharashtra assembly elections.
Sule, the leader of the NCP (SP), has refuted Patil’s accusations. In addition to filing complaints against Patil with the Maharashtra internet police and the Indian Election Commission, she has presented him with a criminal defamation notice.
Patil had earlier on Tuesday accused Amitabh Gupta, the former Pune police commissioner, and Bhagyashri Navtake, the deputy commissioner of police in the cyber unit at the time, of embezzling bitcoins, which Sule and Patole used to finance the state elections.
While helping authorities with their investigation, Patil allegedly syphoned off substantial amounts of bitcoin from the accounts of those indicted in two incidents of the multimillion-dollar Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme in 2018. This led to his arrest in 2022. He was freed on bond after almost 14 months in prison.
The BJP swiftly seized onto Patil’s accusation, releasing alleged voice notes that they say implicate Patole and Sule in a plot to seize bitcoins in order to sway the election.
The development has “unmasked” the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), according to BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who also called for responses from Sule and the Congress.
Trivedi shared audios that supposedly show the voices and signal talks of the two opposition leaders stressing the bitcoin transactions for allegedly funding their electoral campaign. He said it is obvious that the MVA has realised it is losing the polls.
“One leader allegedly tells an operator that they will deal with any inquiry once their government is formed,” Trivedi said.
Sule has termed the allegations “familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters” the night before election.
“I came out yesterday with my response and am ready to debate whenever and wherever the BJP wants to debate. Patil has himself been to jail for months. I have already complained about the allegations to EC and cyber cell. I called up Pune CP Amitesh Kumar this morning and sought probe and justice. He has promised me justice,” Sule said on Wednesday while responding to Ajit’s remarks.
After speaking with her attorney, Sule stated that she has also received a criminal defamation notice.
Meanwhile, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said, “The person who made the allegations was in jail for several months. Taking that person along and making false allegations, only the BJP can do this.”
“The BJP has become a party of lies. On the eve of elections, they are doing all this. My voice is not there in the audio. I am a farmer, I don’t even understand bitcoin. We have given a legal notice and filed an FIR. We will also file a defamation case against them,” Patole said.
