In a case that laid bare the depths of political corruption and criminal collusion, a Gujarat court has sentenced 14 individuals — including a former BJP legislator, a retired IPS officer, and multiple police personnel — to life imprisonment for abducting and extorting an Amreli businessman in 2018. The victim, Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, was forced at gunpoint to transfer 200 bitcoins, worth approximately ₹12 crore at the time, to the accused.
The trial, spanning years and involving 173 witnesses and nearly 300 documents, exposed how state machinery was weaponized to carry out one of India’s most sensational crypto-related crimes.
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From Abduction to Extortion
According to the judgment, Bhatt was abducted on February 11, 2018, illegally confined at a farmhouse, and brutally assaulted. Armed officers and accomplices demanded ransom, threatening his life. Payments were allegedly funneled through local Angadiya courier networks to disguise the illicit transactions.
The conspiracy was led by Nalin Kotadiya, a former BJP MLA from Dhari and nephew of ex-union minister Manu Kotadiya, alongside then Superintendent of Police Jagdish Patel and Inspector Anant Patel. Instead of upholding the law, police officers themselves orchestrated the crime, the court observed, noting that their actions “worked like a termite in society, corroding both governance and the economy.”
Abuse of Power and Public Trust
The court’s order emphasized that the convicted officials had not only betrayed their oaths but also exploited their positions to enrich themselves. “These were individuals sworn to protect liberty, dignity, and human rights, yet they engaged in criminal conspiracy for personal gain,” the judgment noted.
The involvement of legal professionals further deepened the scandal. Advocate Ketan Dhiru Patel and Bhatt’s business partner Kirit Paladiya were convicted as key conspirators, accused of facilitating the crime. A separate advocate, Jatin Dhiru Patel, was acquitted.
Twenty-five witnesses who turned hostile during the trial have now been issued perjury notices, highlighting the intense pressure and fear surrounding the case.
Politics, Cryptocurrency, and a Wider Reckoning
The conviction casts a long shadow over Gujarat’s political establishment. Kotadiya, once aligned with the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) founded by former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel before merging with the BJP, had positioned himself as a Patidar community leader during the quota agitation. His political trajectory, prosecutors argued, was built on a cultivated image of defiance — one that ultimately blurred into criminality.
The judgment also underscored the risks posed by cryptocurrencies in India’s grey regulatory space. While bitcoins had no legal tender status in 2018, their speculative value and anonymity made them a ripe tool for criminal exploitation. The case, the court warned, should serve as a precedent in treating financial crimes involving digital assets with the same gravity as conventional corruption.