Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 1

Almost a month after The Tribune’s Aadhaar data breach expose, a case of suspected tampering with Aadhaar software was reported here today.

On a tip-off by Village-Level Entrepreneur (VLE) Bharat Bhushan Gupta, the whistleblower in the case, a team of senior officers from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), led by Chandigarh-based regional office’s Deputy Director Prem Thakur, arrived here to investigate the matter.

Gupta said similar software was earlier being sold for Rs 300 on the grey market, but after The Tribune story, it was now being offered for Rs 2,500-3,000. He claimed to have spoken to the seller in the presence of the UIDAI team.

“According to the seller’s claim, the tampered software can be used to generate and print the pdf of an Aadhaar card by using the biometric data of any person. This facility was available to us earlier, but due to its misuse, its application is now restricted to government offices,” said Gupta.

He said this was not a case of data breach, but the software could be used to generate an Aadhaar card from an unauthorised terminal. Gupta claimed that the seller had asked him to first deposit money into his Paytm account, linked to a nationalised bank having a branch at Dhori Colliery (Jharkhand).

When contacted, Thakur said the matter was under investigation.