NCP (SCP) leader Supriya Sule has lashed out at the BJP and NCP leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar over the Bitcoin audio scam, stating the audio clip purportedly featuring her voice was fake. She also filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the Maharashtra Police.
Sule’s reaction comes after the BJP released an audio clip purportedly featuring Supriya Sule MP and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole wherein she claimed to be trading Bitcoin to fund NCP (SP)’s campaign during the Maharastra Assembly Elections.
After the audio clip leaked, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi held a press conference wherein he accused Sule of encashing Bitcoins to fund the party’s campaign and questioned how fair and free the conduct was.
Trivedi also sought an inquiry into the use of “foreign currency to influence the Maharashtra assembly elections.” He also posed the following five questions to Sule:
1. Have you traded in bitcoins?
2. Has the dealer contacted Gaurav Mehta and Amitabh Gupta?
3. Is this WhatsApp chat yours?
4. If this chat is yours, who are you talking about?
5. Are the voices in these call recordings yours?
BJP leader Sambit Patra added that the scam came to light as Gaurav Mehta, a person involved in cryptocurrency trade and an alleged link to this case, decided to go public because he feared danger to his life after he encashed the Bitcoins to help opposition leaders.
Patra alleged that the matter had its roots in a cryptocurrency fraud in 2018, and a former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who had joined the private sector and was tapped as an expert to help the investigation, ended up getting arrested for misappropriating a cryptocurrency wallet.
He claimed that the suspected crypto currency fraud occurred years back and the opposition alliance used the money in previous elections as well. “It appears that the money involved so far in this scam is Rs 235 crore,” he added.
Sule’s cousin and NCP chief Ajit Pawar too pitched in, stating that he recognised Sule’s voice in the purported audio clips. “From the tone in the audio clips, I can identify the voices. One of them is my sister, and the other is someone I have worked with extensively. An inquiry will be conducted, and the truth will emerge,” Ajit Pawar said during an interaction with the media.
Sule’s reaction
Supriya Sule rejected the allegations, stating that the claims were BJP’s “familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters.”
Reacting to reporters after casting her vote, Sule said the first thing she did after hearing about the clip was to contact the Commissioner of Pune. “I immediately complained to cybercrime that these voice notes and messages were lies and fake. I have called my lawyers and have sent a criminal defamation notice to Sudhanshu Trivedi. I am ready to answer whatever questions he has regarding this,” Sule told reporters.
She added: “Yesterday, the BJP posed five questions too. My answer is ‘No’ to their allegations. It is not my voice in that audio clip. Anyone can check. I am not at all linked to this matter.”
What Patole said
Patole too rejected claims that it was his voice in the clip. Promising legal action against the BJP, he said the party was dragging him in its allegations to influence the state polls.
“The voice in the clip being circulated is not mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognises my voice,” Patole said, adding that he was a farmer and had nothing to do with Bitcoin.
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