An Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 people, including 11 police officers and a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, to life in prison for their role in a shocking Bitcoin extortion case. The ruling, delivered by Special Judge B.B. Jadav in Ahmedabad, found the group guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and corruption in one of India’s most infamous crypto crimes.

Among those convicted are former Amreli district police superintendent Jagdish Patel and ex-MLA Nalin Kotadiya. The officers were also found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act for abusing their positions of power.

The case dates back to 2018 when Surat businessman Shailesh Bhatt, who had invested in the collapsed BitConnect scheme, managed to recover part of his losses in Bitcoin from developer Dhaval Mavani. Reports revealed that Kotadiya and senior officers conspired to seize Bhatt’s recovered crypto. On February 11, 2018, Bhatt was kidnapped and held at a farmhouse near Gandhinagar.

Investigators said Bhatt was beaten and forced to admit he had received 752 Bitcoin, with 176 stored by his associate Kirit Paladiya. He was pressured to hand over millions in cash and digital assets. When negotiations failed, the kidnappers extorted 34 Bitcoin, worth around $150,000 at the time.

Bhatt’s complaint to the Union Home Ministry triggered a probe that led to 15 arrests. The prosecution presented 173 witnesses, exposing how senior police officials and a politician turned a kidnapping into a crypto heist. The court also ordered confiscated gold from Patel to be handed to the Master of Mint in Mumbai.

The case underscores growing concerns about corruption and crypto-related crime in India, as global authorities continue cracking down on digital asset laundering schemes.