Bluefrog, IT Grids Face Serious Criminal Action: Cyberabad Police

Hyderabad:Cyberabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar conducted a press conference on Monday, enumerating various details about the data theft case, where a Madhapur based company called IT Grids Pvt Ltd was involved.

IT Grids is facing the allegation of misusing data of 3.5 Crore voters of Andhra Pradesh, which was allegedly used to help the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) further its prospects in the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. There was also the probability of the data being compromised and not just the voter details, but sensitive information like photos, videos, bank account details were also captured through the Sevamitra App developed by the company for the TDP.

IT Grids CEO D Ashok absconding

V C Sajjanar said that the IT Grids Chief Executive Officer Dakavaram Ashok was the main accused in the case and since he failed to appear before the police despite being served a notice, he should surrender failing which he would be arrested. As of now Ashok has still not responded to the notices nor has he surrendered to the Police.

Criminal Case Filed against IT Grids

Sajjanar said a person by named Tummala Lokeswara Reddy,an entrepreneur and Data Analyst Specialist filed a complaint alleging misuse of personal information and sensitive data. Based on his complainant, a case was registered against IT Grids at the Madhapur police station on Saturday under sections 120B (Criminal conspiracy), 379 (Theft), 420 (Cheating) and 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 72 and 66B of the Information Technology Act.

The police served notices on four employees of the company and in their presence conducted search and seizures at the firm’s registered office in Madhapur on Saturday and Sunday. Several electronic gadgets, hard discs, cellphones, documents and other materials were seized.

Sevamitra App used to access AP voters details

Preliminary investigations revealed that IT Grids had developed ‘Sevamitra’, an application for the TDP and gained access to personal information and sensitive data related to Aadhaar, electoral rolls and beneficiaries of government schemes of voters.

Through this application, the TDP has constituency wise voters’ data and affiliations of each voter party-wise ,i.e. TDP, YSRCP, Jana Sena and neutral voters. They also have an option to identify the preference of a voter for a particular party. The information is being used to create profiles of voters and use them for political purposes, the Commissioner said.

YSRCP voters’ names misuse suspected

The police also suspect a link between the misuse of data and deletion of YSRCP voters' names in Andhra Pradesh. The police said that in Andhra Pradesh 50 cases were registered against people who have lodged online complaints seeking removal of names of eligible voters from the electoral rolls.

He also said the police have issued a notice to Amazon Web Services for the production of a database relating to application and other data. He said that letters have been sent to the UIDAI and the Election Commission for more details and all the incriminating material was sent for forensic analysis.

Telangana Police take serious view of AP Police interference

The Police Commissioner got serious and condemned the Andhra Pradesh police team for rushing to Hyderabad without seeking permission and interfering in the investigation process. He also said that a Habeas Corpus petition was filed in the Telangana High Court despite the fact that the four employees of IT Grids were served notices and were in the Cyberabad Police custody for questioning and they were also released.

Talking about one of IT Grids employee R Bhaskar who was questioned on Monday, he said that the AP Police had also gone to his house and questioned him as to what the Telangana police had asked. He made it clear that the AP police should not interfere in the investigations conducted by the Telangana Police which is in its jurisdiction. A letter would also be sent to the Andhra DGP, he said.

Whistle blower harassed by AP police

The AP police team went to complainant Lokeswara Reddy's house, abused, threatened him and even forcibly tried to take him away with them.

Taking serious note of the AP Police action, Sajannar said that a case of criminal trespass and intimidation has been registered against the personnel of the Andhra Pradesh police at the Kukatpally police station.

Role of Blue Frogs to be investigated

The investigating team have also decided to inquire the role of Vizag- based Blue Frogs Mobile Technologies sharing sensitive information about AP citizens and also their connection with IT Grids. Cyberabad police would also be sending a letter to the Registrar of Companies seeking more information details about the company.

Case Jurisdiction

Even though the data belonged to the AP citizens, the breach occurred in Cyberabad. The investigation would be conducted under the supervision of Madhapur ACP along with a special team of police and cyber crime experts in Cyberabad. He said that four teams have been constituted to probe the case and the police would not spare the accused, no matter how powerful they were.

Also Read: Manhunt On For IT Grids CEO Ashok Dakavaram