New Delhi: All eyes are on the Bharatiya Janata Party as its spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi is set to address a press conference shortly. The presser comes minutes after Ravindranath Patil, former IPS officer from Pune made a major allegation against NCP-SP Leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole. The former IPS officer alleged that the two leaders had misappropriated bitcoins from a 2018 Cryptocurrency Fraud Case and had used the same to fund the ongoing Maharashtra Assembly Elections. Patil says he is ready to support the investigation. 

Crypto Charge Against Sule, Patole in Maharashtra | Here Are The LIVE Updates 

• Responding to the charges, Supriya Sule said that they have filed a criminal complaint to the ECI & the Cybercrime department against the allegations.  
• “Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin misappropriation. The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India”, Sule said in a tweet on X. 

Speaking to ANI, a former IPS officer alleged that Amitabh Gupta, then Commissioner of Police, Pune, and Bhagyashri Nautake, then Deputy Commissioner of Police handling the Cyber Crime Investigations were involved in the misappropriation of bitcoins, which are eventually being used by the two political leaders. 

The allegations against Patole and Sule follow an incident of high drams on Tuesday after the workers of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) created a ruckus outside a hotel located at Nalasopara assembly constituency in Palghar district accusing the BJP of “distributing money.”

The BVA workers created a ruckus outside the Vivanta Hotel in Virar where BJP leader Vinod Tawde was holding a meeting with the party workers. Notably, Vinod Tawde dismissed the charge levelled by BVA that the BJP was “distributing money” ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.

“A meeting of MLAs of Nalasopara was underway. I went there to tell them about the Model Code of Conduct for the day of voting, how will voting machines be sealed and how to go about if an objection has to be made. The workers of the party (Bahujan Vikas Aghadi), Appa Thakur and Kshitij thought that we were distributing money. Let the Election Commission and Police inquire, let them get CCTV footage. I have been in the party for 40 years. Appa Thakur and Kshitij know me, and the entire party knows me. Still, I believe that the Election Commission should conduct an impartial investigation,” Tawde said.

The Maharashtra assembly elections are scheduled for November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.