Ration Theft Racket Busted in Gujarat. Police Recover over 1,100 Fingerprint Casts: Report

The cybercrime cell of Ahmedabad police has busted a racket that was stealing ration through bogus validated documents and recovered more than 1,100 casts of beneficiary fingerprints made on some silicone-like material, says a report.

, "The modus operandi used by the racketeers is shocking as a fingerprint cast can be used to endorse any document, open locked apps and mobile phones and bypass bio-metric barriers that depend solely on fingerprints." In the report, Times of India, says , "The modus operandi used by the racketeers is shocking as a fingerprint cast can be used to endorse any document, open locked apps and mobile phones and bypass bio-metric barriers that depend solely on fingerprints."

"Corrupted fair price shop owners used to provide the fingerprints and data to mastermind behind the racket, Bharat Chaudhary of Banaskantha, who used to take Rs1,000 to prepare each fingerprint cast from scans. The fingerprint casts were then used to imprint fingerprints of poor people and siphon off their ration from the public distribution system (PDS). The food grains and other material were then sold in black in the open market with fair price shop owners pocketing the difference," the report says. "Corrupted fair price shop owners used to provide the fingerprints and data to mastermind behind the racket, Bharat Chaudhary of Banaskantha, who used to take Rs1,000 to prepare each fingerprint cast from scans. The fingerprint casts were then used to imprint fingerprints of poor people and siphon off their ration from the public distribution system (PDS). The food grains and other material were then sold in black in the open market with fair price shop owners pocketing the difference," the report says.

So far the police have arrested 40 persons including Mr Chaudhary. Quoting sources, the newspaper says, Mr Chaudhary and his gang held soft copies and associated data of nearly 2,500 fingerprints.

Rajdeepsinh Jhala, deputy commissioner police (DCP) of the cybercrime cell, told the newspaper that “This is a huge scam spread across states like Haryana. It is not only fair price shop owners who can misuse the fingerprint casts, it can be disastrous for national interest. Imagine your fingerprint being with someone. What may not he do in your name with that? More people may be arrested, and from other states.”

In January 2018, a report from Sandesh, a Gujarati newspaper, had revealed how biometric data of almost 12.7 million ration card-holders is leaked and fair price shop (FPS) owners are using pirated software to siphon food grains meant for these people.

Since the past seven years, Gujarat is using biometric devices to prevent FPS owners and ration card-holders from misappropriating PDS food grain. Under the Scheme, fingerprints as well as important data of the ration card-holder is collected. To obtain his quota of food grain, the card-holders needs to personally visit the fair price shop, match his or her fingerprints on the system, and then get dal, rice, sugar and oil as per his allotted quota. The card-holder will not receive the food grains if his or her fingerprints are not matched.

(Image Courtesy: semanticscholar.org)

Read: In Gujarat, biometric data of 1.27 crore ration card-holders is leaked, reports Sandesh newspaper ) As per the report, a large number of FPS shop owners in Surat are purchasing this software consisting of leaked fingerprints data for Rs25,000. Using this software, the shop owners are creating and using coupons worth crores of rupees, without the knowledge of the ration card-holder to procure and then sell food grains in open market. This is not only happening in Surat but throughout the state, the newspaper says quoting its sources. (

Earlier in 2013, Jude Terrence D’souza, a Mumbai-based forensic expert, showed to the full house of audience at a Moneylife Foundation event, on how unique identification (UID) or Aadhaar can be undermined by faking of fingerprints.

Mr D’souza showed a demo on how pre-spoofed prints made from wax and Fevicol can be accepted as valid fingerprints.

According to Mr D’souza, it is extremely easy to forge fingerprints and fool biometric devices. By their very nature, convergence creates an automatic privacy subverting infrastructure and concentrates power in the hands of those controlling the technology.

Mr D’souza says that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has not only multiplied this danger, but unknowingly introduced massive vulnerabilities in the processes of creating and establishing identity.