Haryana: Accused ‘sold’ login credentials for altering 300 IDs on Parivar Pehchan Patra portal

Preliminary investigation into the alleged tampering of the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) portal case, which came to light in Karnal on Friday, has pointed to a nexus between a local Citizen Resource Information Department (CRID) official and Common Service Centre (CSC) operators.

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Sources said an accused official revealed during the interrogation that he had “sold” his login credentials, which were then used to illegally alter the details of around 300 family IDs, enabling beneficiaries to fraudulently qualify for various welfare schemes.

“The accused further disclosed that fake documents were prepared to support these illegal changes in professional details. The racketeers would share the bribes based on the financial aid received under the welfare schemes. Besides altering occupations, they changed the name of the district, split family IDs, and even deleted names of family members from the PPP records,” claimed the sources.

The FIR registered in the case also states that the CRID official’s social media accounts on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Telegram should be examined technically to detect possible collusion with other individuals involved.

Two persons, including Ankit Kumar, a CRID official deputed at Municipal Council office in Nissing (Karnal), and Sunny, a CSC operator, were booked by the Karnal Police two days ago on charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and under relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. The complaint was filed by the District Citizen Resources Information Manager.

The CRID official is accused of sharing his login credentials, including ID, password, and one-time passwords (OTPs), with CSC operators and others, to alter details of family IDs allegedly in exchange for bribes.

Meanwhile, Ram Lal, Station House Officer (SHO) of Nissing Police Station, Karnal, told “The Tribune” that preliminary investigations point to the involvement of multiple individuals. “Ankit appears to be part of an organised network, possibly operating across Haryana. We are investigating the case from multiple angles and have launched raids to locate another accused believed to be in hiding,” said the SHO, adding that the official is, currently, in police remand.