Cyber criminals issue fake ration cards by breaching J'khand govt's system; Issue of new ration cards stopped

Cyber criminals in Jharkhand issued thousands of fake ration cards by hacking official IDs of Supply Officers of six districts of the state.

Under the Ration Card Management System (RCMS), the supply officers of all the districts have the ID of the departmental portal, through which they issue new ration cards, change the nature of the card and correct the names of card holders.

It is feared that cyber criminals have misused the ID on a large scale.

The state headquarters blocked all the RCMS IDs after receiving information about the incident. Preparations are underway to register FIRs in these cases.

According to sources in the food supply department, the IDs of District Supply Officers (DSOs) in Deoghar, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Seraikela Kharsawan, Pakur and Garhwa were hacked.

It is reported that about 2,500 ration cards were made in Deoghar.

Earlier, more than a thousand Green ration cards were converted into Priority Household (PHH) cards by hacking the ID of Hazaribagh DSO.

Similarly, more than 2,500 fake ration cards were issued in Giridih district.

The state headquarters has sought information from the Supply Officers of all the districts regarding misuse of the online system in issuing ration cards.

After acquiring information about the irregularities, issue of new ration cards stopped in the state at present.

Preliminary investigation revealed that most of the cards were generated after 8 p.m. The department has contacted cyber and IT experts to repair the breach.

Earlier, incidence of hundreds of fake birth and death certificates were created by breaking into the Civil Registration System (CRS) portal developed by the Central Government in several districts of Jharkhand, came to light.

No cyber criminal could be traced in these cases.

(With inputs from IANS)