Telangana government sets up sit to dig data theft dirt on team Naidu
HYDERABAD: Taking the Andhra Pradesh government by its horns, Telangana has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) led by Inspector General of Police Stephen Ravindra to probe into how the Telugu Desam Party allegedly “stole data of the people of AP” and tampered with electoral rolls by deleting the names of people who were likely to vote against the yellow party.
The nine-member SIT comprises of IG Stephen Ravindra, Kamareddy SP N Swetha, Cyberabad Cybercrimes DCP Rohini Priyadarshini, Narayanpet DSP G Sridhar, Madhapur ACP N Shyam Prasad Rao, Cyberabad Cybercrime ACP Ch Y Srinivas, Hyderabad CCS Inspector B Ramesh and Hyderabad cybercrime Inspector G Venkat Rami Reddy.
The SIT has been asked to take over investigation into cases registered in Madhapur and other police stations immediately to unearth facts on alleged data mining.
In its order, the government asked the Cybercrime police of Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Rachakonda and the CID to extend all possible assistance to the SIT keeping in view the complexity of the case.
After completing the investigation, the SIT will submit a comprehensive report to the court of law.
T Lokeswara Reddy, a resident of Indu Fortune Fields, was roughed up by Andhra Pradesh police personnel after he filed a complaint at Madhapur Police Station under Cyberabad Commissionerate limits alleging sensitive data of individuals including whether they were beneficiaries of government schemes was being mined by IT Grids India Private Limited without the consent or knowledge of the individuals.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told reporters “a person from Andhra Pradesh” had played a key role in removing the names of those likely to vote against the TDP with the help of IT Grid India Limited director D Ashok. The Commissioner said the police had reason to believe that IT Grid India had stolen sensitive data. He explained that through Seva Mitra app, the TDP had harvested data of TS government scheme beneficiaries illegally.
“After the booth level convener received data on his Seva Mitra app, the booth level team collects data of voters such as name, Aadhaar card details, mobile number, educational qualifications and profession. The convener would then send the data to IT Grids India for harvesting it. Later, IT Grids India would send the same data to a key person in the TDP who initiated the process of deletion of voters based on the data,” the Commissioner explained.