Thereafter, Patel and Kotadiya orchestrated Bhatt’s abduction involving 11 police officials from the Amreli district, including the local crime police inspector Anant Patel. The businessman was reportedly kidnapped on February 11, 2018, and detained in a farmhouse near Gandhinagar, where he was assaulted and questioned about his recently salvaged capital.
Under this traumatic condition, Bhatt confessed to having kept 176 Bitcoin with his business partner, Kirit Paladiya, and sold the remainder of the recovered funds for ₹44 crore ($4.99 million). Thereafter, the kidnappers agreed to release Shaliesh Bhatt on the condition that he would transfer 176 BTC and ₹32 crore ($3.63 million). However, when Bhatt reneged on this agreement, he was forced by the defendants to sell 34 bitcoins from Paladiya’s wallet for ₹1.32 crore ($149,700).
In April 2018, Bhatt would eventually file a complaint with the Union Home Ministry, leading to the arrest of 15 persons. The case was heard at the special anti-corruption court in Ahmedabad under Judge BB Jadav, with the lead prosecutor being Amit Patel. Following an extensive examination of 173 witnesses, Judge Jadav delivered the convictions against 14 of these 15 defendants, excluding one Jatin Patel.
As earlier stated, the Judge found the 14 defendants guilty under multiple sections, notably Section 364A (kidnapping for ransom) of the IPC, other various IPC clauses, and the Prevention of Corruption Act for criminal misconduct by public servants, eventually leading to a life imprisonment sentence. The judgment also ordered hefty fines and directed that gold ornaments seized from ex-SP Patel be surrendered to the Master of Mint in Mumbai.
