Police have initiated a probe after an unidentified person tried to clear an application for caste certificate on the Maharashtra government’s citizen service portal Aple Sarkar, using the log-in IDs and passwords of the local tehsildar, nayab tehsildar, and sub-divisional officer.
An FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by Avanti Mayekar, nayab tehsildar, Mulund. The police have also roped in cyber experts to find out about the alleged unauthorised access to the log-in credentials of the government employees.
The tehsildar office receives applications at Setu Suvidha Kendra, Maha e-Suvidha Kendra, and on Aple Sarkar portal for various purposes. According to the complainant, one Govind Kharatmol had filed two applications for caste certificate last month.
His applications were processed online, granted no-objection certificates, and cleared with all approvals from several departments, including the office of the sub-divisional officer, and were pending for the final signature, the FIR said.
On April 4, a local clerk noticed suspicious processing of the applications and sent them back to the divisional office for a recheck and fresh approval. However, the applications were sent to the applicant with all approvals, the complaint said.
The matter was brought to the notice of tehsildar and an inquiry revealed that no such applications were approved by the tehsildar office.
A complaint was lodged with the Mulund police after which it was discovered that someone managed to enter the government’s online system by taking unauthorised access to the log-in IDs and passwords of the officials concerned, an officer from Mulund police station said.