NEW DELHI: NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday rejected claims on allegation of bitcoin/crypto misappropriation claims and using bitcoin to finance the current Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Sule speaking to reporters dismissed the allegations as “lies and fake” and detailed her response to what she termed as “fake videos” and voice recordings circulating in the media.
“Yesterday, all these voice recordings were sent to me by the media. The first thing I did was to call the Commissioner of Pune and tell him that some fake videos were running, and I wanted to complain to cybercrime,” said Sule. “I immediately complained to cybercrime that all these voice notes and messages were lies and fake, so I sent a notice to cybercrime.”
In addition to the cybercrime complaint, Sule stated she had filed a criminal defamation notice against BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. “I am ready to come out and answer Sudhanshu Trivedi anytime in whichever city he wants, on whichever channel he wants, at whatever time he wants, wherever he calls me, I will come and I will answer him,” she asserted, calling the allegations baseless.
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Sule also stressed her readiness to publicly address Trivedi’s questions. “I have filed a defamation case and a criminal case. I am ready to answer his (Sudhanshu Trivedi) 5 questions wherever he wants—time, place, and platform of his choice—because all the allegations are completely false,” she said.
The bitcoin allegations, which surfaced just before the polling day, prompted Sule to file a criminal complaint with the Election Commission of India and the Cyber Crime department, labelling the accusations as “familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters.”
Meanwhile, Sule’s brother and his opponent NCP chief Ajit Pawar reacting to the audio clips released suggested Sule’s involvement in bitcoin activities. Pawar, after casting his vote in Baramati, confirmed the authenticity of the voices.
“Whatever audio clip is being shown, I just know that I have worked with both of them. One of them is my sister, and the other is someone with whom I have worked a lot. The audio clip has their voices; I can figure out from their tone,” he told reporters.