New Delhi: A Delhi court, examining a cryptocurrency fraud of around Rs 2,000 crore, has asked CBI to consider taking over the probe from Delhi Police.The directions came from the additional sessions judge Sumit Dass on May 1 when he was hearing a bail plea by the prime accused, West Bengal resident SK Masud Alam.

The plea will be heard on May 19."Before I deal with the bail application, in my considered opinion, this particular case is one which requires investigation by any national or central investigating agency like CBI. The ramifications of this case, particularly the magnitude of the offence, the manner in which the offence was committed, and the footprint which may be all over the world, require thorough investigation.

The entire module, which has or had the knowhow as to decoding/breach of the security codes/system, has to be comprehensively busted," the judge said.He added that another angle which requires consideration is the possible participation of a syndicate or state support behind the fraud as it affects the industry/entrepreneurship, and the amount siphoned/cheated can be used for many illegal activities. Alam's two bail pleas have been rejected by the court.

In July 2024, cryptocurrency platform WazirX suffered a cyber attack, resulting in the theft of nearly Rs 2,000 crore. Zanmai Labs Private Limited, the company that operated WazirX, approached Delhi Police and lodged a complaint with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit. WazirX stores crypto funds invested by its customers in various third-party multi-signature wallets.The prosecution said that last year, the company's wallets was drained, and a subsequent probe revealed that these were hacked with a total transaction of $234 million.Following this, Delhi Police registered a case. The name of Souvik Mondal, a resident of West Bengal's Midnapur, came up during the investigation. His account was registered on the platform on July 11, and he had received a crypto deposit of over Rs 91 lakh in his WazirX account.The court noted that Alam was in judicial custody for over eight months, and his bail plea was moved repeatedly as the investigation had made no progress. The investigation officer submitted that they had sent notices to various govt and investigating organisations.