The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the data theft case that has become a sensation across the country, including Telangana. The ED has taken this step based on the FIR filed by the Cyberabad police. In a major breakthrough, the Cyberabad police have arrested a six-member gang for selling people’s personal data and have cracked the biggest data theft case in the country. As many as 16.80 crore people across the country have been affected by this data theft. In response to this, the Telangana government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the leadership of an IPS officer to investigate the case.
Cyberabad CP Stephen Ravindra has provided details of the data theft to the media. The investigation has revealed that the credit card issuing agency of many banks is involved in the data theft scam. The personal data of nearly 4 lakh people who applied for insurance and loans in various companies and banks has been stolen. Additionally, sensitive data of defense and army employees were also found to be stolen. Cyber criminals have also stolen the personal data of 7 lakh Facebook and Twitter users, including their IDs and passwords. The severity of this crime has alerted the government and law enforcement agencies to take strict action against those involved in the data theft case.