Tirur: The Cyber Crime Department has launched a probe into the incident in which 38 fake Aadhaar cards were created by hacking into an Aadhaar machine at the Akshaya Kendra at Alingal in Triprangode here.
The primary probe revealed that the fingerprints and retina were copied from Bengal and Jharkhand. It is suspected that the infiltration started on January 12 when a phone call was received at the Akshaya Centre in Alingal, with the caller introducing himself as a UID admin.

The caller spoke in Hindi and asked the staff to connect the system to a software called Anydesk to carry out the verification. When this was done, he asked them to do one enrolment. It is suspected that the gang managed to hack the Aadhaar machine during this period.

The team then enrolled 38 fake Aadhaar cards. A detailed verification by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) takes place for every enrolment. The fake Aadhaar also went through this verification.

However, it was only after checking the quality of the fingerprints and retina copies that suspicion arose as to whether manipulation had taken place. According to reports, the fingerprints and retinas were uploaded from a border area in Bengal.

All the 38 Aadhaar numbers enrolled by the group from the Akshaya Kendra in Alingal have been cancelled. Akshaya District Project Manager P G Gokul said a complaint has been lodged with the Cyber Crime Department in this regard and an investigation is underway. The Tirur police also started an investigation into the incident on Tuesday.