Sriki case: Don't scuttle probe, CID told CCB

Did the Central Crime Branch (CCB) try to scuttle the investigation by the Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS) of the CID into complaints registered against hacker Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki?

Documents accessed by DH hint at the possibility.

On January 12, 2021, the CID wrote to CCB with a request to “provide proper information” of hard disks and other devices seized from the hacker.

“...you are intimated to provide necessary details accurately without hampering and scuttling our investigation,” the letter read, attached in the charge sheet filed by the CCPS in connection with the hack of state government’s e-procurement portal.

Also Read | Hacker Sriki saga spooks a fledgling Bommai govt

The CID wrote this after realising that the forensic image copies of the hard disks provided by CCB were encrypted and the passwords were incorrect. CID first sought details on the devices seized from the hacker in December. CCB shared copies of the devices seized in January.

However, perusal of data by CCPS --the premier agency of the state government investigating such crimes -- found that “all forensic image copies of the hard disk, provided in hard disk No.3 (file name HARDDISK_SRIKI.001) is encrypted. The password shared by your staff is incorrect,” the letter read.

Forensic image copies of three other hard disks -- Sriki MacJ, sriki-Damaged and MacBook Silver -- were also encrypted. This prompted CID to seek “necessary details” from CCB “accurately without hampering and scuttling our investigation”.

CCB responded by asking the CCPS to depute an officer to its technical centre so that the hard disks can be copied and verified on the spot, before using it for investigation.

The chargesheet also reveals that CCB dilly-dallied in sharing details.

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