In a significant development in an eight-month-old data fraud case, the Hisar police have made another arrest related to the illegal tampering of the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) database. This arrest marks a continued crackdown on a racket accused of manipulating sensitive government records for financial gain.
Another Accused Held in Ongoing Investigation
The latest individual to be taken into custody has been identified as Vikrant, a resident of Dahima village in Hisar district. According to police officials, Vikrant's alleged role involved facilitating the issuance of a fake labour card for a woman in return for a commission. His arrest brings the total number of accused apprehended in this case to seven.
Following his detention and subsequent interrogation, Vikrant was presented before a local court in Hisar. The court has ordered him to be placed in judicial custody as the probe moves forward.
The Roots of the Case: A Complaint Unearths a Racket
The entire investigation stems from a formal complaint that led to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR). The case was officially registered at the Uklana police station on April 14, 2023. The complaint was filed by a senior district officer, the Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Citizen Resources and Information Officer.
The allegations were serious: certain operators at Common Service Centres (CSCs) were illegally accessing and altering restricted modules within the PPP system. Their illicit activities reportedly included:
- Making unauthorized changes to occupation details.
- Fraudulently bifurcating family IDs.
- Illegally approving labour cards.
These services were not performed as part of their official duties but were offered in exchange for money extracted from the public, constituting a clear case of extortion.
Serious Charges and a Widening Probe
A police spokesperson stated that the investigation has uncovered a systematic operation to manipulate family ID data. This is not a minor offence; it is considered a serious crime under Sections 35 and 36 of the Haryana Family Identification Act, 2021.
The police are now digging deeper into several critical aspects of the racket:
- Network Identification: Authorities are working to uncover any other members associated with the gang.
- Technical Methodology: Investigators are focused on understanding the precise technical methods used to breach and manipulate the PPP database.
- Financial Trail: A key part of the probe involves tracing the financial transactions linked to the illicit operation to understand the full monetary scale of the fraud.
Further investigation is actively underway, suggesting that more revelations and possibly more arrests could follow as police piece together the full extent of the data tampering network.
