Chandigarh, June 10: A significant development has emerged in the ongoing Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) tampering investigation, with a recently submitted supplementary chargesheet by district police revealing widespread fraudulent modifications. A report by Arun Mahendru, Security Analyst at the Haryana Parivar Pehchan Authority (HPPA), details that a single PDF document was utilized to alter PPP data in an astonishing 3,485 instances. Furthermore, 13 distinct documents were identified as having been uploaded over 100 times each, suggesting a systemic misuse of the system.
The illicit operation first came to light in November 2023 when local police apprehended three employees of the Citizen Resources Information Department (CRID) for illegally modifying PPP details via the official portal. Since then, a total of seven individuals have been arrested as the investigation continues.
The HPPA report also brings to attention other critical irregularities, noting that 239 requests included scanned images of bank passbooks that did not belong to the applicants. Additionally, 129 requests were found to contain blurred or poor-quality documents, pointing to significant deficiencies in the verification process.
The HPPA report unequivocally concludes, “The analysis highlights severe irregularities in the document-submission process, including mass duplication, fraudulent modification and repeated use of irrelevant or forged documents. Additionally, technical analysis confirms the repeated usage of identical documents across multiple requests, further reinforcing the evidence of malpractice. The direct association of certain documents with an official necessitates further investigation into his involvement in the case.”
Sources familiar with the investigation further revealed that the majority of these fraudulent requests involved the removal of a family member from the PPP, most frequently in cases of divorce.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained the deliberate circumvention of standard procedures: “To initiate changes in the PPP details, applicants are required to submit supporting documents, which are typically verified by CRID officials at multiple levels to prevent any misuse. However, in these particular cases, the verification process was deliberately bypassed as officials concerned were allegedly involved in the fraud and they had accepted bribes in exchange for approving the unauthorized changes.”
Normally, when a request is submitted to modify PPP details, a one-time password (OTP) is automatically dispatched to the mobile number of the family member whose data is being altered, serving as a crucial verification step. “However, in the PPP-tampering case, the accused officials allegedly manipulated the process to have these OTPs sent to their own mobile phones. This allowed them to make unauthorized changes to the PPP records without facing any procedural hurdles,” the official further elaborated on the method of fraud.
Arun Mahendru confirmed the existence of the report but declined to provide further details at this stage of the investigation. Inspector Somvir, Incharge, Cyber Police Station, Jhajjar, confirmed that seven persons have been arrested thus far and the investigation is ongoing.
