Brit booked for stealing e-vehicle data

A 54-year-old British national has been accused of stealing crucial company data from a reputed e-vehicle firm in Bommanahalli, south-east Bengaluru.

The accused, identified as Steven Grant Woolley, is a native of Carbrooke in Norfolk in England. The police are yet to trace and question him.

Based on a complaint filed A Narayanaswamy, deputy general manager of Mahindra Electric Mobility Limited, the Bandepalya police have registered an FIR against the foreigner under IPC section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant). Efforts are on to trace him.

Narayanaswamy, in his complaint on behalf of Mahindra's Chief Executive Officer Mahesh Babu, said that Woolley joined Mahindra on September 4, 2017, on a three-year contract. He was appointed as the chief technical officer at the firm located in Bommanahalli.

Woolley put down his papers on April 17, 2019. While he was serving his three months' notice period, the IT head of the Data Leakage Prevention System noticed that crucial company information had been compromised. They cross-checked and found that Woolley had on several occasions sent crucial company information from his official e-mail id to his personal email id.

The information included manufacturing details of batteries, mobile electric equipment, designs and technical data specifications.

On July 17, Woolley was confronted with the breach of data and dismissed from service.

Armed with evidence from the Internal Data Leakage Prevention System, Narayanappa approached the Bandepalya police and filed a complaint.