PNB fraud: Hackers access e-mails of CBI Joint Director Rajiv Singh who oversaw Nirav Modi probe, says report

The e-mail account of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Joint Director Rajiv Singh, who was overseeing a probe into the near $2 billion PNB scam allegedly perpetrated by diamantaire Nirav Modi, has reportedly been hacked from Shimla. Bulk emails have been sent out from his email ID, according to a media report. According to a CNN-News18 report, the senior official’s email account was hacked from the hill station following a digital security breach.

#EXCLUSIVE - CBI is currently investigating #NiravEmailLeak:Sources | @Zakka_Jacob and @Nitisha_Kashyap with more info | Input: @manojkumargupta pic.twitter.com/w5a9yifHyw

— News18 (@CNNnews18) June 18, 2018

Singh’s computer has reportedly been seized and the state cyber-crime unit is probing the matter. The unit is trying to ascertain whether any sensitive information was leaked. Singh was prematurely repatriated to his home cadre of Tripura on 25 May. The CBI told the news channel that Singh’s repatriation was not in any way linked to the breach of his e-mail account. Along with Singh, three other officers of the CBI – Joint Director (STF) and Special Crime Nina Singh, DIG Anish Prasad and Superintendent of Police R Gopala Krishna Rao – were also repatriated to their respective home cadres in late May. On 14 June, the Congress accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting Nirav Modi in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case and sought a reply from the Ministry of External Affairs on the absconding diamantaire’s travel spree, using a revoked passport. “Even as the Modi Government has been caught snoozing, Chhota Modi-2 i.e ‘Nirav Modi, the absconding accused in India’s ‘biggest bank loot scam’ is on a travel spree using a ‘revoked passport’ by the Ministry of External Affairs,” said former Union Minister Rajeev Shukla. With inputs from PTI