In a significant development in one of Karnataka’s most politically charged cybercrime cases, a special PMLA court in Bengaluru has rejected the bail application of Sunish Hegde, a key associate of notorious hacker Srikrishna Ramesh — better known as Sriki. The court’s ruling, delivered on June 26, 2026, also denied bail to Prasidh Shetty, who is linked to the Nalapad brothers — sons of Congress MLA N.A. Haris.
The Special Court of PMLA, Bengaluru (CCH-1), made clear in its order that Hegde was not a bystander or a minor player in this case. The court described his role as anything but peripheral — a finding that signals how seriously the judiciary is treating this sprawling case of digital extortion, cryptocurrency theft, and money laundering that has been unfolding since 2017.
Who Is Sunish Hegde — And Why Does His Role Matter?
Sunish Hegde, a Class-1 contractor with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), was among the first people to come into close contact with Sriki after the hacker began his criminal operations. According to chargesheet details and police statements, Hegde was far more than just a friend — he was an enabler, a financial backer, and at various points, an extortionist.
Sriki, who reportedly learned to code at age eight and later studied computer science in Amsterdam, returned to India and quickly escalated into serious cybercrime. He began hacking poker websites — including the Delhi-based PokerBaazi — giving his associates an unfair advantage by revealing opponents’ cards in real time. He also hacked into Unocoin Technologies, one of India’s earliest cryptocurrency exchanges, stealing 60.6 Bitcoins in June 2017.
It was during this period that Hegde became central to Sriki’s operations. According to his own statement — now part of the official chargesheet — Hegde paid for Sriki’s extravagant lifestyle while Sriki promised him Bitcoin in return. The two, along with Robin Khandeval (a Bitcoin trader from West Bengal), reportedly hopped from one luxury hotel to another — ITC Gardenia, Four Seasons, Shangri-La, Gokulam Grand — running up massive bills that Hegde and Robin covered on the promise that Sriki would pay them in stolen cryptocurrency.
When Sriki failed to deliver on those promises, the relationship reportedly turned hostile. Hegde allegedly held Sriki captive in his flat — a detail that illustrates just how tangled and volatile this criminal network had become. Sriki himself described Hegde in one police statement as someone in whom “there lived a demon inside him waiting to extort the living hell out of me.” The court, reviewing all of this, concluded that Hegde’s involvement in the crimes was deep, sustained, and active — not incidental.
The Sriki Bitcoin Case: A Brief Timeline
To understand why this bail denial matters, it helps to understand the full arc of the Sriki case — which is one of the most complex and politically sensitive cybercrime investigations in Karnataka’s history.
- June 2017: 60.6 Bitcoins are stolen from Unocoin Technologies. Sriki is the prime suspect. The case is registered but remains unresolved for years.
- 2017–2020: Sriki, Hegde, and Khandeval allegedly move through Bengaluru’s luxury hotels, funding their lifestyle through hacked proceeds. During this time, Sriki also hacks poker websites, the BBMP e-procurement portal, and multiple other platforms, allegedly siphoning off crores in digital assets.
- November 2020: Sriki is first arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in a drug case — he had allegedly been purchasing hydro ganja on the dark web using Bitcoin.
- 2020–2021: While in prison, Sriki allegedly uses a laptop smuggled inside — with a constable allegedly bribed to bring it in — to move Bitcoins worth ₹10 crore to different wallets. This revelation triggers the larger Bitcoin scam investigation.
- 2021: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) enters the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sriki, Hegde, and Khandeval are arrested. The ED is granted 10 days of custody. Cryptocurrency fraud linked to the network is estimated at ₹11.5 crore.
- April 2026: The ED raids 12 locations across Bengaluru linked to the accused and their associates, including properties connected to Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad — sons of Congress MLA N.A. Haris — as well as Mohammed Hakeeb Khan, grandson of former Union Minister K. Rehman Khan.
- June 26, 2026: The Special PMLA Court rejects bail for both Sunish Hegde and Prasidh Shetty, with the court noting that their roles in the case were not peripheral.
The Political Dimension: Nalapad Brothers and Hakeeb Khan
What has made the Sriki case particularly explosive — and why it has attracted sustained media and judicial attention — is the alleged connection between the stolen cryptocurrency and politically connected individuals in Karnataka.
The ED’s investigation alleges that Bitcoin stolen by Sriki was eventually transferred to individuals with political connections, with investigators tracing the digital trail from the hacked Dubai exchange to the Nalapad brothers. Prasidh Shetty, whose bail was also denied on June 26, is described as being linked to the Nalapad network.
Suspicious money transfers through the bank accounts of Mohammed Hakeeb Khan — grandson of former Union Minister K. Rehman Khan — also triggered raids at his residence, with transactions between Khan and Sriki remaining under active investigation. The April 2026 raids on 12 locations simultaneously were a clear signal that the ED’s probe has widened considerably beyond the original crypto theft and now touches multiple layers of political and financial connections.
The Congress government in Karnataka constituted an SIT under the CID on June 30, 2023, shortly after coming to power, to probe the Bitcoin scam — which had its origins during the previous BJP government’s tenure. Four former Central Crime Branch officials have already been named as accused for allegedly attempting to hack cryptocurrency wallets and payment gateways with Sriki’s help — and for allegedly mishandling Bitcoin seized from Sriki.
Why the Court Denied Bail: What the Ruling Signals
The PMLA court’s decision to deny bail to Hegde carries significant weight for several reasons.
Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, bail is considerably harder to obtain than in ordinary criminal proceedings. The Act places the burden on the accused to prove that they are not guilty and that they are unlikely to commit further offences — a reversal of the usual presumption of innocence that applies in standard criminal cases. Courts have consistently held that economic offences of this nature — those involving systematic fraud, laundering across multiple accounts, and proceeds channelled through politically connected networks — warrant a higher threshold before bail is granted.
By explicitly noting that Hegde’s role was not peripheral, the court has effectively communicated that the evidence on record points to sustained, knowing participation in the alleged criminal scheme — not coincidental or minor involvement. This framing makes it significantly harder for Hegde to succeed in any future bail application unless there is a material change in circumstances.
The simultaneous denial of bail to Prasidh Shetty reinforces the message: the court views multiple nodes of this network as active and significant participants, not peripheral figures who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What Happens Next
The Sriki Bitcoin case is far from over. The ED’s investigation continues to expand — the April 2026 raids on 12 locations suggest that investigators believe there are still financial trails to follow and assets to trace. The political connections alleged in the case — involving the sons of a sitting Congress MLA and the grandson of a former Union Minister — ensure that the case will remain under intense public and political scrutiny.
For Sunish Hegde, the denied bail means continued custody while the PMLA trial proceeds. For the broader case, the court’s finding that key associates played non-peripheral roles strengthens the prosecution’s narrative that this was an organised, deliberate scheme — not a series of unconnected individual acts.
Karnataka’s Bitcoin scam began as a story about a young hacker who cracked crypto exchanges and poker websites. It has since grown into a sprawling investigation touching police corruption, political connections, money laundering across banking and crypto channels, and a criminal network that allegedly continued to operate even after its principals were behind bars. The bail denial of June 26, 2026 is another chapter in a case that still has a long way to run.
Key Figures in the Case
- Srikrishna Ramesh (Sriki): The central accused. Alleged to have hacked Unocoin, poker websites, government portals, and a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange. First arrested in 2020 in a drug case; subsequently arrested by the ED under PMLA.
- Sunish Hegde: BBMP Class-1 contractor and Sriki’s associate. Allegedly funded Sriki’s lifestyle and was involved in extortion. Bail denied by PMLA court on June 26, 2026.
- Robin Khandeval: Bitcoin trader from West Bengal. Allegedly helped Sriki sell 900 stolen Bitcoins. Arrested alongside Sriki and Hegde by the ED.
- Prasidh Shetty: Linked to the Nalapad brothers. Bail also denied on June 26, 2026.
- Mohammed Haris Nalapad & Omar Farook Nalapad: Sons of Congress MLA N.A. Haris. The ED alleges proceeds of the Bitcoin fraud were channelled to them. Their properties were raided in April 2026.
- Mohammed Hakeeb Khan: Grandson of former Union Minister K. Rehman Khan. Suspicious transactions between Khan and Sriki are under investigation.
