Karnataka RTI activist who wrote to PM Modi on Bitcoin scam arrested for extortion

Karnataka RTI activist who wrote to PM Modi on Bitcoin Scam Arrested for Extortion

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police in Bengaluru on Monday arrested an RTI activist for allegedly extorting money from several clubs by threatening to file false cases against them, officers said.

The police identified the accused as A R Ashok Kumar Adiga (57), a resident of Basaveshwaranagar. He was produced in court on Monday and remanded in police custody for 10 days, they said. Adiga had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Bitcoin scam in the state and had brought the issue to national attention.

Officers said he ran many clubs under his name in different parts of the city. Adiga allegedly extorted Rs 50,000 from a club manager named Srinivas who later approached the police over the same, the police said. He claimed to know influential politicians and officers, but demanded that an agreement be made in his name to run the club in order to prevent police raids, officers added. He had allegedly also said that the monthly bribe for the same must be paid to him which he will distribute further.

Recently an audio clip went viral in which he purportedly claimed to be in contact with BJP ministers, leaders and senior IPS officers and said he would be able to help run clubs without police intervention.

(Source : The Indian Express)