Former Gujarat BJP MLA, ex-Amreli SP among 14 sentenced to life term in 2018 bitcoin extortion case

Ahmedabad, Aug 29 (PTI) A sessions court here on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment former Gujarat BJP MLA Nalin Kotadiya, ex-Superintendent of Police of Amreli district Jagdish Patel and 12 others in the 2018 bitcoin extortion case.

Ahmedabad sessions court judge, B B Jadav, sentenced Kotadiya, Patel and others to life imprisonment for their alleged involvement in kidnapping Surat-based builder Shailesh Bhatt and his partner from Gandhinagar and extorting 200 bitcoins worth Rs 32 crore at that time.

Kotadiya represented the Dhari seat of Amreli between 2012 and 2017.

"Of the total 15 accused charged in the case, the court convicted 14 persons, including Kotadiya, while one Bipin Patel has been let off. The accused were found guilty of being part of a conspiracy to extort 200 bitcoins. The accused included nine constables of the Amreli police force," Paresh Vaghela, lawyer representing these constables, said.

Nine policemen will challenge the verdict in the high court in a week, he said.

Builder Bhatt had alleged that policemen from Amreli kidnapped him and his business partner Kirit Paladia from Gandhinagar on February 9, 2018 and extorted bitcoins, which were in the latter's possession.

Bhatt, in his application to the home department, had alleged that Kotadiya and the then Amreli SP Patel were involved in the conspiracy to extort bitcoins from him and Paladia.

On the instructions of the home department, the state CID-Crime had filed an FIR against Kotadiya and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping, extortion and criminal conspiracy.

After evading arrest for several months, Kotadiya was finally arrested in September 2018 from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra and later granted bail by a court. Other accused persons, including Patel and his subordinates, were also granted bail after their arrests. PTI PJT PD NP