A case has been filed against 19 individuals, including Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her ICT adviser, and Zunaid Ahmed Palak, former state minister for ICT, over allegations of leaking and selling citizens' National ID (NID) data.
In addition to the 19 named individuals, 15 to 20 unidentified persons were also accused in the case. Talebur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed to The Daily Star that Enamul Haque lodged the case with Kafrul Police Station under the Cyber Security Act, alleging the embezzlement of around Tk 20,000 crore through the illegal sale of NID data.
The case accuses Joy and Palak of abusing their authority to facilitate the sale of citizens' NID data through an organised syndicate. The accused allegedly allowed Digicon Global Services Limited to access and use NID information for business purposes with various organisations, failing to safeguard national security and personal data protection. The data was reportedly sold to around 182 domestic and international entities, raising concerns over public security.
Among the other accused are Tareque M Barkatullah, former director of the Data Centre; Wahidur Rahman Sharif, director of Digicon Global Services; NM Ziaul Alam, former senior secretary of the Ministry of ICT; Mahbubur Rahman, former executive director of the Bangladesh Computer Council; Abdul Baten, former director of the National Identity Registration Wing at the Election Commission Secretariat; Ashraf Hossain, former senior maintenance engineer at the Election Commission Secretariat; Lt Col (retd) Rakibul Hasan from the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC); and Rezaul Islam, former deputy secretary of the Cabinet Division.
Additional accused include Haider Ali, retired professor of CSE at Dhaka University; Muhammad Mahfuzul Islam, former vice chancellor of the Canadian University of Bangladesh; Aliul Hasan, former system analyst at the Registrar General's Office of Birth and Death Registration under the Local Government Division; Tabibur Rahman, former deputy secretary of the ICT Division; Sarwar Hossain, former assistant director of the National Identity Registration Wing; Abdul Momin Sarkar, former director of the National Identity Registration Wing; Mohammad Tajul Islam, former acting director of Budget, Accounts, and General Services at the National Identity Registration Wing; Mahidur Rahman Khan, manager of Security Operations at the Bangladesh Computer Council; and Siddiqur Rahman, software developer at the Bangladesh Computer Council.
