Delhi Police Arrests Accused From Bengal In Rs 2,000-Crore WazirX Cyber Attack Case

The Delhi Police has arrested a man from West Bengal in connection to the Rs 2,000-crore cryptocurrency heist on WazirX, reports said. The person, identified as SK Masood Alam, is seen as one of the key accused in the case.

Alam was arrested by the Delhi Police's Special Cell from East Midnapore district of West Bengal, according to reports. The Times of India, citing the police chargesheet, said the accused had opened a WazirX account under the name of "Souvik Mandal", and later sold it to one M Hasan through social media platform Telegram.

Hasan, seen as another main accused, allegedly used the account to breach the cryptocurrency exchange, the publication added.

The investigation, conducted by the Delhi Police's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations team, reportedly focussed on the hacking of the WazirX platform, that led to the loss of digital assets worth Rs 2,000 crore.

According to reports, the police charge sheet also made reference to the alleged lack of cooperation from Liminal Custody, which had the responsibility of securing WazirX's wallets.

The police found it difficult to trace the full chain of events leading to the cryptocurrency heist due to the alleged lack of cooperation from Liminal, the reports said. They added that the police will file supplementary chargesheets to gather more information about the company's role.

Liminal, in statements cited by news reports, denied the charge of not cooperating with the authorities.

Meanwhile, WazirX cooperated completely with the authorities by providing transaction logs and other details, the reports claimed, citing the police chargesheet.

Notably, the cyber attack on WazirX—the platform that allows users to trade in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies—was carried out in July. The security breach caused WazirX to lose nearly 45% of its assets.