Ahmedabad: The Aslali police have filed an FIR against the proprietor of a Fair Price Shop in Bareja village of Daskroi taluka here. The accused managed to obtain the fingerprint patterns of 157 individuals and an application containing numerous Aadhaar card details. Exploiting this stolen data, he deceptively manipulated the distribution of subsidized essential commodities, subsequently selling them on the black market.

Hardik Satasia, the Daskroi sub-divisional magistrate (mamlatdar), filed the FIR with the Aslali police after receiving information from the director of food and civil supplies in Gandhinagar and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) officer of Gandhinagar regarding irregularities at Natwarsinh Parmar’s Fair Price Shop.

The mamlatdar also received intelligence indicating that Parmar had linked ration cards of individuals from other states, causing difficulties for those who had enrolled at Parmar’s shop in obtaining subsidized foodgrains and essential commodities.

During a raid on September 30 conducted by the mamlatdar’s office, investigators found replicas of the fingerprints of 157 individuals imprinted on rubber sheets. These sheets were stored individually in envelopes, each bearing the name of the respective individual along with their Aadhaar card number. The accused utilized these counterfeit fingerprints for biometric authentication in the distribution of subsidized goods, which were subsequently sold on the black market, as disclosed by a police official.

It is also learnt that Parmar possessed a mobile application named “Matrix,” containing a huge amount of private data of individuals. He had acquired this app for Rs 2 lakh from a person named Adil, whom he purportedly met on the Anand-Vadodara highway. Additionally, Parmar asserted that Jignesh Parekh, an employee at a nationalized bank, aided him in linking others’ Aadhaar cards with mobile numbers under his control.

When Aslali police attempted to apprehend Parmar, he had already absconded, and the other accused individuals were also on the run. Aslali police registered a complaint against Parmar and Adil, including charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, forgery, criminal conspiracy under the IPC, as well as offenses under the Essential Commodities Act and the Information Technology Act.