Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP founder Sharad Pawar, has strongly refuted allegations of her involvement in a cryptocurrency scam and dismissed an audio clip circulated by the BJP as fake. Sule has sent a criminal defamation notice to BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who raised the allegations at a press conference.

Speaking to the media after casting her vote in Baramati on Wednesday, Sule said, “The audio recordings circulating in the media are fabricated. I immediately reported this to the cybercrime department and filed a complaint. A criminal defamation notice has also been sent to Mr. Trivedi.” Sule emphasized her willingness to address the allegations publicly, stating, “I am ready to answer Mr. Trivedi’s questions at any time, on any platform, and in any city.”

Sharad Pawar also came to his daughter’s defense, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated. “The BJP has taken someone who was in jail for months and used him to make false accusations. This is typical of their tactics,” he remarked.

However, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is Sule’s cousin, confirmed that one of the voices in the controversial audio clip was indeed hers and called for an investigation into the matter.

The allegations emerged after retired police officer Ravindra Nath Patil accused Sule, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, and others of being involved in a cryptocurrency fraud case dating back to 2018. Patil, who claims he was hired as a cryptocurrency expert to investigate the case, alleged that the scam funds were used during the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi presented an audio clip and chat logs purportedly linking Sule and others to a scheme involving the conversion of bitcoins into cash. Trivedi alleged that the audio featured Sule in conversation with a key witness, while the chats involved a former police officer and an accused dealer discussing the transactions.

Patil, who spent 14 months in jail over alleged fraud charges, claimed he was framed. “During my time in prison, I kept wondering why I was trapped. Recently, a key witness shared new details about the cryptocurrency fraud, implicating Supriya Sule and others,” he said.

As the controversy unfolds, Sule’s legal team has initiated action, and the cybercrime authorities have been approached to investigate the authenticity of the recordings. Meanwhile, the NCP and Congress have accused the BJP of using these allegations as an electoral ploy.