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CASE 397  |  Piyush Savaliya  |  January 30, 2018  |  India
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DATABASE RECORD
  id                  397
  date                January 30, 2018
  original_date       January 30, 2018
  year                2018
  month               1
  quarter             2018-Q1
  victim              Piyush Savaliya
  location            Surat, Gujarat
  country             India
  scenario            Authority Misuse
  description         Shailesh Bhatt and nine accomplices abducted Piyush Savaliya, a BitConnect employee, by posing as Income Tax Department officers. They held him at a farmhouse in Surat at gunpoint for three days.
  kidnappings         1
  violence_torture    (null)
  drugs_alcohol       (null)
  weapons             1
  theft               0
  life_taken          0
  money_wanted        (null)
  coin_type           Crypto
  reports             New Indian Express
  notes               When Savaliya proved unable to help recover funds, Bhatt paid him ₹34.5 lakh for silence and a false statement denying that any kidnapping occurred. 
  has_processed_date  0
  created_at          2026-01-26 15:13:37

AI SUMMARY  [generated at bulk import, NOT verified against sources]
  **Victim:** Piyush Savaliya, employee/associate of BitConnect. Worked for the collapsed BitConnect Ponzi scheme platform. Targeted because of his connection to BitConnect and presumed access to recovery of funds or cryptocurrency wallets.
  
  **Attackers:** Shailesh Babulal Bhatt (mastermind, Surat-based builder who lost ₹2 crore/~$293,000 in BitConnect) and 9 accomplices: Jignesh Marodiya, Kirit Vala, Nikunj Bhatt (Shailesh's nephew), Jignesh Kheni, Umesh Goswami, Bavaji, JK Rajput, Dilip Kanani, Hitesh Jotasana.
  
  **Attack Method:** January 30, 2018 (13 days after BitConnect collapsed). Accomplices posed as Income Tax Department officers to gain credibility and compliance. Savaliya kidnapped and transported to a farmhouse in Surat, Gujarat.
  
  **Violence Used:** Held at gunpoint for 3 days (January 30 - February 1, 2018). Threats and intimidation throughout captivity. Illegal detention in farmhouse. Psychological coercion through impersonation of government officials creating fear of legal consequences.
  
  **Crypto Stolen:** None directly stolen from Savaliya—he was unable to provide Bitcoin access or recovery assistance that Bhatt sought. However, Bhatt paid Savaliya ₹34.5 lakh (~$47,700) as bribe for silence and to issue false statement claiming he was never kidnapped.
  
  **Status:** Released February 1, 2018 after proving unable to help recover funds. Initially covered up kidnapping, filing affidavit in May 2018 denying it occurred and claiming police pressure. Truth revealed when Gujarat CID Crime tracked him down during investigation of Bhatt's own kidnapping by corrupt police. Nikunj Bhatt and Dilip Kanani arrested May 20, 2018; 152 Bitcoin (₹8.58 crore) recovered from Kanani's wallet. Investigation ongoing by CID Crime and Enforcement Directorate. Shailesh Bhatt arrested by ED in August 2024 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act; remains in custody. Savaliya serves as witness in ongoing prosecution.

LINKED SOURCES
  [url]  https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/Jul/05/congress-says-bjp-leaders-behind-rs-5000-crore-bitcoin-scam-in-gujarat-1838742.html
  [url_2]  https://coinjournal.net/news/crypto-scam-head-of-bitconnect-india-arrested-at-delhi-airport/

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FETCHED ARTICLE 1
  Source     newindianexpress.com
  URL        https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/Jul/05/congress-says-bjp-leaders-behind-rs-5000-crore-bitcoin-scam-in-gujarat-1838742.html
  Field      url
  Retrieved  2026-08-06T13:43:36+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
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  Integrity  sha256 429c3de2a04a3c3f020afd2699e8e23b740f38d96ed2274480fc4e9fd65bb65f
  Trimmed    trimmed on read-through
  Caveat     retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)

Congress says BJP leaders behind Rs 5000 crore 'bitcoin scam' in Gujarat

The Congress party on Thursday slammed the BJP, saying that the saffron party has become a platform for 'black money conversion', 'extortion' and 'hawala transaction'.

BJP flags used for representational purpose only.(Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Thursday slammed the BJP, saying that the saffron party has become a platform for 'black money conversion', 'extortion' and 'hawala transaction' and demanded a Supreme Court monitored Judicial investigation on the alleged 'Bitcoin scam' in Gujarat.

Addressing mediapersons here, Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that the finger of suspicion of this alleged scam of illegal cryptocurrency directly points to several BJP leaders and the 'mastermind', former MLA Nalin Kotadiva, who Mr Gohil claimed is 'absconding'.

"The modus operandi of this scam is multi layered and is like a Pandora's Box" whereby illegal 'hawala transactions', 'kidnappings', 'extortion of cryptocurrency' using CBI, Police and Government authorities at the behest of top BJP leaders in Gujarat is a norm", he alleged.

Mr Gohil also claimed that amount of this 'mega Bitcoin scam' has been estimated by the Gujarat CID as more than Rs 5000 crore, although many news reports are indicated that the amount of the scam would be Rs 88,000 crores.

Narrating the developments in the case, Mr Gohil said that the details of the scam has surfaced when one Shailesh Bhatt complained to Gujarat's Minister of State for Home, Pradeepsinh Jadeja against the Amreli district police that they have extorted 200 bitcoins (Rs 10 Crore) and demanded Rs 32 crores in cash.

According to Mr Gohil, the Gujarat CID arrested Amreli Police SP Jagdish Patel, Inspector Anant Patel and 10 constables in this case, and he claimed that the CID has discovered the mastermind of the scam was Mr Nalin Kotadiya.

"Even as the Police and CID searched the whereabouts of the mastermind Nalin Kotadiya, he is now absconding but a video of him saying that if he is arrested, then he will reveal damning evidences which would expose top BJP leaders in the state - who were converting 'black money' to 'white' during demonetisation", Mr Gohil alleged.

The Congress leader claimed that Shailesh Bhatt kidnapped one Piyush Savalia who was associated with Bitconnect on January 30 released two days later.

"Mr Bhatt then kidnapped Dhaval Mavani who was able to transfer 2256 bitcoins worth Rs 131 crores to Mr Bhatt securing his release.Mr Bhatt secured another Rs 10 crores worth bitcoins before being stung by Amreli Police", said, Mr Gohil.

However, Mr Gohil alleged the Gujarat CID is trying to pressurise the witnesses of this case for political reasons.

"Surprisingly, a second complaint filed by the CID crime, wherein the main accused is now Mr Bhatt, who was sufferer in the initial case.

Instead of making him the complainant in the first case, the CID at the behest of MoS Home, made the police 'the complainant'", alleged Mr Gohil.

Mr Gohil asked at whose behest the Amreli Police extorted bitcoins and money through middlemen from investors and why did the investigation agencies not make Mr Bhatt, as a 'complainant' in the FIR that was filed in the first case? "The complainant has himself stated in his statement that a CBI Inspector extorted Rs 5 Crore from him to not initiate any action.

Why is he has not been made an accused but only transferred from Gujarat to North East?", asked Mr Gohil.

He also demanded to investigate "whether the demonetisaion used to cover to convert 'black money to 'white' by BJP leaders in Gujarat and dupe investigators through multiple extortion of illicit money".

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FETCHED ARTICLE 2
  Source     coinjournal.net
  URL        https://coinjournal.net/news/crypto-scam-head-of-bitconnect-india-arrested-at-delhi-airport/
  Field      url_2
  Retrieved  2026-08-06T13:43:37+00:00 via raw HTTP retrieval, deterministic extraction (HTTP 200)
  Language   unknown
  Kept       paragraphs headline [0] + 7-15 of 17
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  Trimmed    trimmed on read-through
  Caveat     retrieved from a live page on the date above. Unlike text copied
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ORIGINAL (unknown, verbatim as retrieved)

Crypto Scam: Head of BitConnect India Arrested at Delhi Airport - CoinJournal

“The company came into existence in 2016, and in 2017, it launched the BitConnect tokens. It remained active till January this year. It released 28 million BitConnect tokens, out of which 18 million tokens were sold to investors,” Narwade said, as quoted by the Financial Express. “The accused held seminars, events in India and other countries promising high interest on investment in BitConnect tokens.”

Ashish Bhatia, the director general of police (DGP) of CID crime of the Gujarat police, said the company was registered in the UK and had an office in Surat. It lured investors with 60% monthly interest and incentives in the form of “referrals interest.”

The scam came to light in India after deceived BitConnect investor Shailesh Bahtt allegedly extorted cryptocurrencies and cash worth over Rs 155 crore (US$22 million) at gunpoint from Dhaval Mavani and Piyush Savaliya of BitConnect. Later, Bhatt and his business partner were allegedly kidnapped by policemen and extorted cryptocurrencies worth Rs 9 crore (US$1.2 million).

BitConnect, touted itself as a “self-regulating financial system,” used buzzwords and celebrities to lure investors to participate. These would “lend” funds in bitcoin to finance various projects. The funds would then be converted to BitConnect tokens.

BitConnect tokens were worth more than US$435 each in January, before plummeting to less than US$5 a month a later.

Trade Satoshi is the last cryptocurrency exchange platform that still trades BitConnect tokens. It plans to delist it in September.

BitConnect shut down on January 16th 2018.

The arrest of Darji comes just a few months after self-proclaimed “cryptocurrency guru and visionary,” Amit Bhardwaj was arrested for scamming investors out of Rs 2,000 crore (US$307 million).

Bhardwaj, who was on the run for almost a year, was arrested at the Bangkok airport on April 4th and later brought to Pune to face trial.

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generated from attacks-export-Gart-website.json + reported_K&R  |  case 397
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