Over 365,000 NID records sold in a month, CID uncovers Tk11cr fraud

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has uncovered a major National Identity Card (NID) data fraud, where more than 365,000 citizens' records were illegally accessed. They were sold within a single month at prices ranging between Tk200 and Tk300 each, generating illicit earnings worth over Tk10 crore.

Two individuals, including an Election Commission (EC) employee, have been arrested in connection with the racket. The arrestees are Md Habibullah, 41, office assistant-cum-computer operator at the Gazaria Upazila Election Office in Munshiganj, and Md Alamin, 39, a data entry operator (outsourced) at the Election Commission in Dhaka.

The information was disclosed today (15 January) at a media briefing held at the CID headquarters in Malibagh by DIG Md Abul Bashar Talukder of the CID Cyber Police Centre.

According to the CID, Md Alamin was arrested yesterday (14 January) from the Agargaon Election Office in Dhaka, with assistance from senior Election Commission officials. Following his confession, a CID Cyber Police Centre special operations team arrested Md Habibullah later that night at around 12:10am from the Chandrima Housing area in Mohammadpur. Two mobile phones were seized from their possession as evidence.

DIG Abul Bashar Talukder said Habibullah joined the Election Commission in 2008 as an office assistant-cum-computer operator and worked at the Dhaka EC office from 2013 before being transferred to the Gazaria Upazila Election Office in April 2025. Alamin had been working as an outsourced data entry operator at the Dhaka EC office since 2016.

He said Alamin had access to a highly confidential user ID and password that allowed nationwide access to the NID database, enabling verification of NID information of citizens across the country. In contrast, Habibullah's official credentials were limited to accessing NID data of citizens under the Gazaria upazila.

According to the CID, taking advantage of their prior acquaintance, Alamin shared his nationwide-access ID and password with Habibullah in exchange for bribes. Habibullah paid Alamin Tk4,000-5,000 per week for continued access.

Using the credentials, Habibullah illegally accessed and sold sensitive NID information of citizens to various individuals through social media platforms, charging Tk200-300 per record, the CID said.

An internal inquiry by the Election Commission revealed that within just one week, 112,150 NID records were accessed, while a total of 365,608 records were viewed over a 30-day period.

"If each NID record is valued at Tk300, Habibullah alone illegally earned around Tk11 crore. The accused used the proceeds to purchase a flat in Dhaka and acquire both movable and immovable assets, leading a lavish lifestyle, DIG Abul Bashar said.

The CID official further said that the two accused have confessed to being involved in the operation for a long time, working in collusion and using OTP transfers to gain unauthorised entry into the Election Commission Secretariat's core NID server.

"They collected and sold confidential citizen data to various individuals using social media platforms, siphoning off crores of taka," he added.