Pan-India vehicle CF scam: Noida techie arrested for ‘breaching NIC database’

CHHATRAPATISAMBHAJINAGAR: The Special Investigation Team of the Beed police has arrested a 32-year-old software engineer from Noida for allegedly breaching the National Informatics Centre’s secured database and facilitating a nationwide racket that fraudulently issued vehicle fitness certificates without mandatory physical inspections.The accused, Ashish Kadiyan, who worked on transport department software projects through an NICSI-empanelled vendor, was produced before a Beed court on Tuesday and remanded in three-day police custody. With his arrest, the number of accused held in the case has risen to 15.The case originated from a complaint filed by RTO inspector Ganesh Vighne at the Beed Rural police station on Jan 9 after he detected that vehicle fitness certificates were allegedly being issued online without vehicles being physically presented for inspection. Investigators later found that certificate issuance and related transactions were allegedly coordinated through WhatsApp, prompting the formation of an SIT due to the technical complexity and interstate nature of the case.Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat said the investigation had uncovered a sophisticated cybercrime operation with ramifications extending beyond Maharashtra.“The investigation has revealed that the accused possessed specialised knowledge of the transport department’s software architecture. The SIT is probing the extent of unauthorised alterations made to the NIC database, the number of vehicles affected, the financial transactions involved and the possible role of other individuals. We are investigating the matter from every possible angle,” Kanwat said.According to the police, Kadiyan is employed by Velocis Systems Pvt Ltd, an empanelled vendor of National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI), and had been assigned to RTO-related software development work, giving him extensive knowledge of the software, source code and database architecture.Assistant superintendent of police Venkatram, who heads the SIT, said investigators suspect the accused exploited technical vulnerabilities in the system to manipulate official records. “Our investigation is examining whether the accused introduced a technical flaw in the software code that could later be exploited through SQL Query Injection to make unauthorised changes in the backend database. We are also verifying whether authentication mechanisms were bypassed, security logs were deleted and the activity was deliberately concealed from routine security audits,” he said.The police suspect Kadiyan used his technical expertise to make unauthorised alterations to vehicle records maintained in the NIC database. The SIT is examining whether fitness certificate status, tax filing records of commercial vehicles, CNG status entries and NTBT (not to be transferred) blacklist records were manipulated.Investigators have so far confirmed unauthorised changes relating to at least one vehicle, but suspect the modus operandi may have been used across multiple states. A forensic examination of database records, technical logs and electronic evidence is underway to determine the scale of the alleged fraud and identify additional beneficiaries.The police suspect the scam may have caused losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees to the govt exchequer. The case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to cheating, forgery and forged electronic documents, along with sections of the Information Technology Act.Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news. Download the TOI App.