Portal hack: CID sat on search warrant against nonprofit

The Cyber Crime police of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) waited 15 months to raid the premises of a Nagpur-based nonprofit Uday Gram Vikas Sanstha (UGVS), which received Rs 10.5 crore after notorious hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki hacked the e-procurement portal in 2019.

The hack was reported to the Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS) in August 2019. But it had to wait till November 2020 to search the premises of UGVS, even though a search warrant was first obtained in December 2019 itself - raising serious questions on the pace of the probe to recover stolen government funds.

The premier agency was first alerted of the hack on August 26, 2019, and the recovery to date has been around Rs 1.5 cr - which was recovered by Enforcement Directorate.

Application of search warrant by CCPS, first filed with the jurisdictional court on December 7, 2019 - around three months after the hack - noted that the bank account of the NGO received the illegal transfer.

“... the authorities of the said organization are not cooperating with the investigation. There are possibilities that evidential materials, as well as the case proceeds, may be recovered” if the NGO and seven others identified by the police are searching, the application read. The court issued the warrant on December 10, 2019.

Another application seeking an extension of the search warrant was filed a week later on December 15, 2019. “(sic) Due to some important official works assigned by the superior officers and engaged in investigation of other cases, it was not able to execute the search warrant within the given time,” CCPS told the court.

The next application to re-issue the warrant, according to the charge sheet filed in connection with the case, was on November 2, 2020 - fifteen months since the hack. CCPS quoted the excuse of “important official works assigned by superior officers, engaged in investigation of other cases” along with “crisis of Covid-19 pandemic” for the delay in executing the warrant.

Subsequently, CCPS went on overdrive arresting the prime accused who received the funds and those who encashed the amount. Notices were served to banks involved in the transaction on November 5 and 6, 2020 and statements of nine accused in connection with the case were recorded between November 7 - 10.

Curiously, this came days before the arrest of prime accused Sriki by City Crime Branch police in connection with a drug case in the third week of November 2020.

The delay in raiding the NGO, according to sources, hindered the possibility of recovering the stolen proceeds from the accused.

A lion’s share of the stolen proceeds is yet to be recovered.

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