Delhi police arrest key suspect in $235m WazirX hack case: report

Delhi police arrested a West Bengal resident in connection with a hacker attack that drained $235 million worth of crypto from WazirX.

Indian authorities have arrested a suspect in the $235 million hack of cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, India Today reports, citing a police filing. The police have reportedly arrested SK Masud Alam, a resident of West Bengal, after the suspect allegedly set up a fake WazirX account that was subsequently used to orchestrate the hack.

In the report, Delhi police allege that Alam created a fake account under the name “Souvik Mondal,” which he sold on Telegram to “M Hasan,” who then used it to access WazirX’s multi-signature wallet and steal funds. The police’s report also reveals that as part of the investigation, its Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations division sought cooperation from Liminal Custody, a crypto custody provider tasked with securing WazirX’s wallets.

Crypto custodian faces scrutiny in WazirX hack case

However, Liminal Custody reportedly did not respond to multiple information requests, raising concerns about its security oversight. Police said that Liminal’s role will be examined further in a follow-up report as the investigation continues.

In a bid to trace the misuse of WazirX’s multi-signature wallets, police seized three laptops from the exchange, used by authorized signatories to approve transactions. Although details are yet to be clarified, the report reads that WazirX has provided authorities with transaction data, ID records as well as transaction logs. Initial findings from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre found no evidence of unauthorized access to WazirX’s internal systems, either locally or remotely, per India Today.

WazirX incurred a $235 million loss from the July 18 cyber-attack, which severely impacted the exchange and led it to seek a Scheme of Arrangement in Singapore, a restructuring process under local insolvency laws. An independent audit by Grant Thornton later found no evidence implicating Liminal Custody’s infrastructure in the multi-million dollar hack.