A former BJP MLA, an ex-IPS officer, and a lawyer are among 14 persons who have been convicted of abducting an Amreli businessman and extorting him for cryptocurrency, in the form of 200 bitcoins worth Rs 12 crore, at gunpoint in 2018.Fourteen of the 15 accused in the case had illegally confined and assaulted Shailesh Babulal Bhatt on February 11, 2018, and were sentenced to life imprisonment by Special Judge, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Bharat Bhaskar Jadav on Friday.These included former BJP MLA of Amreli Nalin Kotadiya, then Superintendent of Police (SP) of Amreli Jagdish Patel, then Inspector of Amreli Local Crime Branch Anant Patel, nine other police staff, Advocate Ketan Dhiru Patel, and Bhatt’s business partner Kirit Paladiya. Advocate Jatin Dhiru Patel was acquitted in the case.Nalin Kotadiya is the nephew of former union minister Manu Kotadiya.The court order said, “(The accused) have hatched criminal conspiracy in furtherance of their common intention… and abducted victim Shailesh Bhatt against his will on 11.02.2018 and illegally confined at Keshav Farm from 12:00 to 6:00 pm and demanded huge money by pointing service revolver by accused Anant Patel and also beat him and received amount towards their illegal demand through various Angadiya (courier) firms which are recovered in the present case on hand.”Noting that corruption is an evil, the court said, “It works like a termite in the society… and also affects the economy of the country and in present case, on hand, it appears… that the above accused persons, having abused their post and position…”The court said that as part of their duty, the accused should have informed the authorities concerned about the complainant indulging in illegal transactions through Bitcoins. But the accused persons, the court said, “themselves indulged in commission of serious crime to grab the bitcoins and to gain financial benefit to satisfy their greed of money.”Story continues below this adOn the role of the police personnel, the order stated, “Accused No. 1 to 9 (police staff) and Accused No. 12 (Inspector) and 13 (SP) are police personnel and they are duty bound to uphold and enforce the law impartially and to protect the lives, liberty, human rights and dignity of the members of the public. However, instead of doing so, they themselves indulged in the crime along with other accused.”On the role of the advocate and the MLA, the court order stated that they are bound by their duties towards the society as per Section-39 of CrPC. “However, they have failed in performing their duties towards society which requires to be viewed,” the court said. “No liberal view required to be adopted… the present case also falls under the category of such a serious case pertaining to crypto currency i.e. bitcoins which has no legal tender in India,” it added.The court held the accused persons liable for the commission of offence punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections pertaining to kidnapping and extortion, among others, besides relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.The 14 convicted accused were ordered to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 25,000 each.Story continues below this adThe court said the accused persons had tried to take advantage of such a situation “which is nothing but to harm the economy of the nation”.It said, “It is the need of the hour that widespread corruption amongst the public servants and private persons is required to be curbed with a strong hand… Corruption affects not only the moral fiber of the society but also destroys the economic stability and progress of the country as well. A public servants and a qualified persons are, therefore, once found guilty of such a serious nature case… is never considered on a liberal count but handle(d) with hard handedly to set an example amongst the wrong doers.”Perjury notices against 25 hostile witnessesThe court further ordered action against 25 witnesses, who had turned hostile in court, for perjury under section 344 of the CrPC for giving false evidence before the court. This is punishable by imprisonment of three months, a fine of Rs 500, or both.The order stated, “…it is noticed and experienced that it has become a fashion to turn hostile before the court… this kind of attitude of the witnesses are nothing but direct interference with the process of law…”The order stated that all the accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.Story continues below this adKotadiya claimed innocence and, stating that the “politics between the ruling and opposition parties in Amreli was always extreme”, said that he had been falsely implicated in the case since he was the MLA of the ruling party at the time. He also said that his uncle had served as a cabinet minister and his grandfather had been an Advisor to the Gaikwad government.Former SP Patel claimed lack of knowledge about the entire incident.Inspector Patel claimed that he was investigating a case against Bhatt. Paladiya also invoked allegations against Bhatt in another case.The nine police staff, which included Head Constable Umedkumar Mansukhlal Maheta, seven Police Constables, including Vijay Vadher, Babu Vajsur Der, Sanjay Madhu Padmani, Noor Mohammad Shirman, Pratap Gorakh Der, Jagdish Vala Jankat, and Suresh Naja Khuman; and a Lok Rakshak Dal Jawan Mayur Bharat Mangroliya, had all pleaded that they were just following orders of superior officers.Story continues below this adJagdish Patel, a promotee IPS officer, was suspended from service in 2018 with regard to this case. He later retired from service.The trial saw statements from 173 witnesses and 290 pieces of documentary and other material evidence being produced in court, including two police vehicles used in the commission of the offence. The case was investigated by the Economic Offences Wing of CID Crime.Kotadiya was elected MLA from Dhari Assembly constituency in 2012 as a candidate of Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), an outfit floated by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel. He had defeated Congress’s Kokilaben Kakadiya by a margin of 1,575 votes. However, the GPP later merged with the BJP and Kotadiya became an MLA of the ruling party. Kotadiya was also an active supporter of Patidar quota agitation and had openly supported the stir, appealing to the community to defeat the BJP in the 2015 panchayat elections. In 2017, the BJP did not give him a ticket for the Assembly election.