Amid row over 'disappearance' of Assam NRC data from the official website, an FIR was filed against a former official for allegedly failing to submit the password to the sensitive document before quitting her job.

The complete details about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) project in Assam was uploaded on the official website 'www.nrcassam.nic.in' after the final list was published on August 31, 2019.

However, the data is not available on the website anymore with IT major Wipro claiming on Wednesday that authorities concerned did not renew the services contract for the project after it expired in October 2019. Wipro was the system integrator for the project.

NRC state coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma said on Thursday that the complaint against former NRC project officer was filed under Official Secrets Act in Paltan Bazar police station in Guwahati, as she "did not provide the password to the document, despite written reminders".

"She failed to surrender the password even after tendering her resignation on November 11 last year. She was a contractual employee and no longer authorised to hold the password, after quitting her job. An FIR has been filed against the former NRC project officer on Wednesday for violating the Official Secrets Act," Sarma said.

He added that the NRC office had written to her on several occasions for submitting the password, but did not get any response.

"We knew (she had resigned) and, therefore, sent several letters to her for handing over the password. But as she did not respond all these months, we filed a complaint against her yesterday for violating the Official Secrets Act," he said.

"We must know if she has tampered with the sensitive information, after resigning," he further said.

The NRC state coordinator, however, refuted allegations of "malafide intent" involved in the matter.

"...This (cloud service provided by IT major Wipro) was not renewed by the earlier coordinator. So, the data went offline from December 15 last year. I assumed charge only on December 24," Sarma, who had gone on leave for weeks after being appointed the NRC state coordinator, clarified.

He also said that the state coordination committee had discussed the issue in its meeting on January 30 and wrote to Wipro during the first week of February.

"Once Wipro makes the data live, it will be available to the public. We hope that people will be able to access it in the next 2-3 days," Sarma claimed.

Another FIR, former NRC coordinator accused of tampering with final list

In another FIR filed with state criminal investigation department on Wednesday, NGO Assam Public Works (APW) alleged that former NRC Assam coordinator Prateek Hajela tampered with the final NRC list - published on August 31, 2019.

APW member Rajib Deka, in his complaint, accused Hajela of disobeying orders and directions of the Supreme Court, forgery of public register and committing offences under cyber laws for altering or changing public records by misusing his powers and position.

The NGO also said that after the publication of the final list, several social networks and sections of the media had reported anomalies, insisting that many 'doubtful' persons were able to insert their names in the final list.

The Centre on Wednesday asserted that NRC data in Assam was safe even though some technical issues have been detected, which would be resolved soon.

"The NRC data is safe. Some technical issues are in its visibility on cloud. These are being resolved soon," a home ministry spokesperson said.

Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly and Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has also written to the Registrar General of India, requesting him to look into the fiasco urgently.

"It is a mystery as to why the online data should vanish all of a sudden, especially as the process to file appeals was yet to begin, all because of the go-slow attitude adopted by the NRC Authority. There is, therefore, ample scope to suspect that disappearance of online data is a malafide act," he had insisted.

Wipro clarifies

In an e-mailed statement on Wednesday, Wipro said it had continued to pay the hosting service fee until January end "as a gesture of goodwill" and that it is willing to continue providing these services if the agreement is renewed by the authorities.

The project was commissioned by the Registrar General of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and was monitored by the Supreme Court of India.

"As an IT services provider, Wipro was tasked with providing the technical architecture and technology solutions for the project," it said.

"The IT Services Contract was not renewed by the authorities upon its expiry in October, 2019. However, as a gesture of goodwill, Wipro continued to pay the hosting service fee until January-end, 2020," Wipro said in the statement.

However, Wipro did not comment on the quantum of dues or whether discussions were underway to resolve the issue.

(With PTI inputs)