Telangana SIT backtracks on leak of Punjab Aadhaar data

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, April 21

The Telangana SIT chief, M. Stephen Raveendra, has denied that his team had stumbled upon Aadhaar card data of about 2 crore people from Punjab. 

In a statement issued late Saturday night, the SIT chief made a U-turn as it had in the past said it had come across data of about 2 crore Aadhaar holders from Punjab.

The SIT has now said reports that large amount of data from Punjab found on the hard disks of IT Grid (India) was erroneous and that the matter was still being investigated.

In a four-line press statement issued in response to reports published in most local and national media based on a SIT input earlier, the report has been described as “unfounded”.

It is, however, believed that the SIT has backtracked on its earlier stand, as the data received is already available in public domain and does not amount to a data breach.

Sources in the state police said that this might have been a typical case of some overzealous official trying to cash in on the finding without verifying if this amounted to any violation of the Aadhaar Act.

The UIDAI had clarified that its data servers were not breached but it filed a complaint with the police to ascertain if the find on the Punjab data violated the Aadhaar Act in any manner.

It is, however, being speculated in the political circles if the initial talk about Punjab data being in Hyderabad was “an act in haste to attract appreciation” or it was a “genuine oversight”.

The SIT is on record as having said that some data from Punjab has been recovered and the matter was being investigated.

Greater credence is being attributed to the theory that the data recovered may actually be already available in public domain and not from the UIDAI servers. 

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatraya today demanded that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government should form a special cell for investigation into the alleged rise in terror activities in the state.

This follows the search by the NIA at three places in the state in connection with a 2016 ISIS module case.

Former Union Minister and Secundrabad MP said, “Hyderabad is a safe haven for Islamic terrorist activities.”

The recent investigations reveal that the Islamic terrorist activities have increased in Hyderabad and a large number of youths are recruited from here, he said.

A special cell under the supervision of a Director General or Inspector General-level rank officer should be setup to make the city safe, he demanded.