The law enforcement authorities in Himachal Pradesh are going bullish on tightening the security around the digital assets sector. The State’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) has teamed up with Liminal Custody Solutions. In recent weeks, the Himachal Pradesh SIT conducted several raids in different parts of the Himalayan state, investigating leads that hinted at an ongoing scam concerning crypto assets in the region. After several rounds of investigation and multiple arrests, the probing officers have decided to make sure such incidents do not repeat.
The collaboration between Liminal and the Himachal Pradesh SIT kickstarted back in September, details of which are officially being disclosed only now. Liminal, as part of its job, helped the investigation team to navigate through the complexities of handling illicit crypto assets.
“Recognising the intricate nature of this emerging domain we shoulder a significant responsibility to guide and assist law enforcement agencies at every stage while upholding the most stringent security protocols,” Manan Vora, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Operations at Liminal said in an official statement.
The Himachal Pradesh SIT also availed the services of this Singapore-based Web3 firm to create segregated wallets as well as facilitate asset transfers into as per the SIT’s directions. For Liminal, this marked the inception of its participation in India’s law enforcement operations. Abhishek Dular, DIG Northern Range, Himachal Pradesh lauded the Web3 company for being prompt in assisting the scam unearthing.
“Their unwavering commitment to supporting law enforcement, stringent internal controls over seized digital assets, and their secure wallet solutions were instrumental in our success,” Dular said.
The SIT investigations in this case have reportedly revealed that at least one lakh people have been duped and 2.5 lakh IDs have been found, including multiple IDs of the same person.
As per the investigating officers, scammers lured-in victims by promising handsome returns in a short span of time. Three to four kinds of cryptocurrencies were used, and fake websites were created that showed manipulated and inflated price of cryptocurrencies.
Earlier, two main accused, Sukhdev and Hemraj, were held in Gujarat. The alleged kingpin of the scam, Subash however, is still at large and is believed to be hiding in Dubai.
