Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 8: A former employee of the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Patnagarh branch and a block level employee of the state government in Bolangir are in the radar of the police for allegedly swindling funds by hacking the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) website.
The horticulture department had lodged an FIR Friday with Bolangir police stating that the MNREGS website had been hacked and money of the beneficiaries swindled.
A special team, including cyber-forensic experts, was formed. The horticulture department also launched an internal probe to the incident. Police had detained two in connection to the crime Saturday.
A senior police official who is part of the investigating team on condition of anonymity confirmed that the bank employee and government official are under the scanner.
However, Bolangir additional superintendent of police (ASP) Jugal Kishore Kumar Banoth refused to divulge details about the investigation. “Very soon all those behind the criminal act will be behind bars,” he said.
The former bank employee had used his connections to open several accounts in the Patnagarh branch of SBI by providing fake documents and morphed photographs, police sources said.
Police officials learnt that the former bank employee joined hands with a contractual block-level employee who is believed to have provided vital information about the website on MGNREGS horticulture fund beneficiaries.
The police are trying to ascertain whether any other bank employee was involved in the crime.
The police have learnt that the website was accessed from outside the government office and have launched an operation to recover the computer used in the crime. A senior police officer said once they recover the system used in the crime they would learn how the duo managed to hack the website and swindle funds without authenticating the digital signature certificate.
Bolangir police so far have questioned more than 10 people in connection with the swindling of money.
