Karnataka: Hacker out on bail in cop net over brawl involving friend at hotel

According to police sources, Sriki was staying at a hotel on the Old Airport road and Saturday, his friend Vishnu came to visit him. The security personnel stopped him from entering the reception area as they found Vishnu to be drunk

Out on bail, notorious hacker Sriki alias Srikrishna Ramesh has once again been handed over to the police after he engaged in a brawl with the staff at a hotel on the Old Airport Road along with his friend. Sriki is accused in multiple cases of fraud and hacking.

According to police sources, Sriki was staying at a hotel on the Old Airport road and Saturday, his friend Vishnu came to visit him. The security personnel stopped him from entering the reception area as they found Vishnu to be drunk. A fight ensued between Vishnu and the staff, and Sriki was at the spot. The hotel staff took both of them to Jeevan Bhima Nagar police station.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (East) S D Sharanappa said a formal complaint is yet to be registered by the hotel staff but they are in the police station.

Sriki is an accused in multiple cybercrime cases, including siphoning off Rs 11.5 crore funds from the e-procurement cell of the Karnataka e-governance centre last year. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating illegal wealth earned by him, said most of it was through hacking.

At least seven cases have been filed against him and police have filed chargesheets in three and are probing four others.

The revelation of Sriki’s cybercrimes have taken a political turn with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claiming that the state government was allegedly attempting to close cases “in the drugs and bitcoin scam” to protect influential politicians who are involved in it.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed that it was the failure of Congress which led to the rise of Sriki’s crimes and said the government has referred the case to the Enforcement Directorate in March this year and to the CBI Interpol branch in April.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief D K Shivakumar urged Bommai to reveal the names of the persons involved in the scam as the chargesheets have already been filed. Seeking a transparent probe by the central agencies, he said a sitting judge of the Supreme Court should monitor the investigation.

Children of several politicians, cutting across party lines in Karnataka, are known to have been associated with Sriki. He was named in a criminal case for the first time in February 2018 — as an associate of Mohammed Haris, the son of Congress MLA N A Haris — following a brawl at a pub in Bengaluru.

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