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HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad police has filed an FIR on the complaint of UIDAI stating that information technology firm IT Grids (India) was in possession of Aadhaar data of over 7.8 crore residents of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh . The population of the two states is approximately 8.4 crore. The company was using the data to develop TDP’s Seva Mitra app.

According to the FIR, the data was in a removable storage device in violation of the Aadhaar Act. Forensic experts suspect the firm may have illegally obtained the data either from a central data repository or a state data hub. Sources said the case too might be transferred to SIT, probing cases related to the alleged data theft.

During analysis of hard disks recovered earlier from the IT Grids office, Telangana State Forensic Science Laboratory (TSFSL) experts say they found that the firm was in possession of 78,221,397 records of Aadhaar data belonging to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In the forensic analysis, the officials found the structure and size of the database in possession of IT Grids was similar to the one owned by UIDAI.

TDP has said that they did not have access to raw Aadhaar data and that it was only being used to verify beneficiaries of welfare schemes.

Based on the information given by the SIT, UIDAI on Friday lodged a complaint with the Madhapur police, who registered a case under various sections of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

“The investigation so far revealed that Seva Mitra app is suspected to be using stolen voter information along with Aadhaar data of the state governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for voter profiling, targeted campaigning and even deletion of votes. Search was conducted on the premises of IT Grids and seven hard disks and other digital evidence were seized,’’ UIDAI deputy director T Bhavani Prasad said in his complaint.

When the gadgets were sent to TSFSL, they gave a preliminary report to SIT informing that the gadgets contain huge quantity of data and require extensive analysis.

“TSFSL has categorically stated that the seized hard disks contain a database of a large number of records pertaining to Aadhaar number in a particular structural database. Upon further examination, it was discovered that 7,82,21,397 records of Aadhaar data were found and used by IT Grids (India) for the purpose of TDP’s Seva Mitra Application,’’ Bhavani Prasad said.

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