Birth reg server hack: Noncooperation from Dhaka stalls probe in Chattogram
Investigation into the 18 dubious birth certificates, which were issued hacking the user IDs and passwords of three ward councillor offices under Chattogram City Corporation, has been halted as police did not get any help from the registrar general's office, despite repeated letters in this regard.
Currently, the Counter Terrorism division of Chattogram Metropolitan Police has been investigating the much-talked-about three cases filed with Patenga and Chawkbazar police stations but there are no clues or headway in the cases.
Investigators believe there are several Rohingyas out of the 18 who managed to get Bangladeshi birth certificates with the help of a well-organised gang. The hacking incident took place on February 14 last year during the upgradation work of bdris.gov.bd, the official server for birth and death registrations.
After detecting the incident, officials of CCC ward-40 (North Patenga), ward-41 (South Patenga) and ward-16 filed three cases on June 9 last year with Patenga and Chawkbazar police stations under the Digital Security Act.
Meanwhile, the investigation officer (IO) of the cases Sub-inspector Shapan Kumar sent several letters to the office of registrar general in Dhaka, requesting to provide information regarding the dubious entries but there was no reply.
The letters were sent on July 5, 2021 and April 18 this year. On July 20, a court in Chattogram ordered the registrar general's office asking to provide the information as soon as possible but to no avail.
In the letters, police sought which IDs were used to log-in to create the birth certificates, which devices were used, the location of the data entry operator and data on IP users.
Contacted, IO Shapan Kumar said, "The cases are under investigation. The court ordered the registrar general's office to provide the information and we are waiting for their reply."
This correspondent made several attempts to contact the deputy registrar general in Dhaka. After calling his official land phone number, his personal secretary said he was in a meeting and they will get back to this correspondent soon.
During another attempt, the office secretary said the deputy registrar general was not in office and declined to provide his cell phone number.
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