The Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet in the Patiala House Courts in connection with the cyberattack on cryptocurrency exchange WazirX that resulted in an estimated loss of Rs 2,000 crore in digital assets.
The charge sheet said that accused SK Masud Alam allegedly opened a fake account under the name Souvik Mondal and sold it to another individual named M Hasan on Telegram. Hasan allegedly used the account to breach the crypto exchange.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) division of Delhi Police found that cybercriminals reportedly drained WazirX’s hot wallet and then attempted to breach the cold wallet, which stores funds offline with enhanced security.
As per the charge sheet, the Delhi Police tried to gather important information from Liminal Custody, the firm responsible for securing WazirX’s wallets. However, Liminal allegedly refused to cooperate with the probe.
Delhi Police sources said IFSO is working to solve the case and the investigation is still pending as of today. They said Liminal is providing wallet, infra service, and not custody to WazirX. Delhi Police officers are still investigating and the report will come in the supplementary charge-sheet while maintaining that no one has been given a clean chit as of now.
Police seized laptops from WazirX to investigate the alleged misuse of multi-signature wallets. The charge sheet indicated that Liminal Custody’s role in the hack would be further investigated and addressed in a supplementary charge sheet.
Popular Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, suffered a cyberattack in July this year, resulting in a theft of over 230 million dollars (Rs 2,000 crore) in digital assets. The breach involved a multi-signature wallet, impacting nearly 45 percent of WazirX’s holdings.