INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
MUMBAI: The Cyber police of crime branch recently arrested a 27-year-old civil engineer for allegedly hacking into the system of the city
police's passport verification branch and clearing the inquiry reports of three applicants, including his wife.The accused wanted to
impress his wife, who planned to go abroad for a job, police said
To avoid any suspicion, Shah, a tech-savvy person, cleared two more inquiries
"Documents submitted by Shah's wife were in order and there was no problem
But after the FIR, Shah's wife's passport has been stopped, said police
The accused is in judicial custody.A case was registered against an unknown person at Azad Maidan police station last year for forgery of
valuable security, will, identity theft, punishment for cheating by using computer resources under various sections of IPC and Information
Technology Act.The police inquiry for three passports of women from Antop Hill, Chembur and Tilak Nagar in Mumbai were cleared by the
Azad Maidan police, during the probe, found that the accused had used an internet protocol (IP) address allotted to a device in
Noida.Investigation was transferred to the south region cyber police station of crime branch
A team led by DCP Balsingh Rajput and comprising ACP Ramchandra Lotlikar, senior PI Kiran Jadhav and PSI Prakash Gawli collected technical
intelligence and arrested the accused, Raja Babu Shah from Ghaziabad in UP
Shah was staying in a rented house in UP
"Shah's wife works in Mumbai
She had applied for a passport
Shah illegally accessed the system and cleared three inquiries including his wife's ," said police
Police however, declined to say how Shah accessed the system.According to the complaint, three passport applications were pending for
Passport files are sent from the Regional Passport Office to the city police's special branch
The special branch then asks the local police for an applicant's report and based on it, a decision is taken and conveyed to the passport
"In this case, the login ID and password, allotted by the ministry of external affairs, of an officer who is a clearing authority, was
hacked," Azad Maidan police had earlier said
The incident took place on September 24 which was a holiday
The passport branch of the police was shut.
