Aadhaar of 300 people stolen, Rs 40 lakh pension money swindled

Express News Service |

Published: 28th October 2017 01:52 AM

HYDERABAD: In a classic case of identity theft, a possibility repeatedly denied by the Centre and UIDAI officials, Aadhaar details of nearly 300 people were stolen their pension money swindled. City police estimate that around `40 lakh was stolen in this manner by three members in a series of frauds since mid-2015. The accused, who have been arrested, were working in the public sector.While Mohammed Abdul Khader Nakshbandi Aziz (39) was employed at an SBI kiosk customer service point at Kummarwadi, Shaik Shabbir Hussain was a former e-seva operator and Md Aslam a junior assistant with Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited in Nalgonda district.

According to the police, the trio misused Aadhaar details of other people to obtain their pension money granted under the Aasara scheme. The issue came to light after one Chavan Dashrath, resident of Rajannabowli in Falaknuma, lodged a complaint on Thursday, stating his 12-digit UID was misused to swindle his pension money. On enquiry, police found that Aziz and associates had downloaded Aadhaar numbers from the internet and used it to open separate bank accounts through an SBI kiosk in Edi Bazaar. Police estimate that 300 such fraudulent accounts were created with ficticious names and addresses by the accused to swindle money.

The accused then posed as persons authorised to process the Asara Pension Health Scheme for senior citizens at the Bandlaguda Tahsildar Officer and collected money from the government on the pretext of sanctioning it to beneficiaries. “They have cheated government and public to the tune of `40 lakh,” said deputy Commissioner Avinash Mohanty.

Aadhaar numbers made public

Ironically, explaining the theft of Aadhaar number and subsequently the identity of several persons, the police in its press note also made the 12-digit UID numbers of a couple of victims public.

