ISLAMABAD: On the recommendation of the Joint Investigation Team, The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has taken action on the issue of data theft of citizens, suspending eight officers on Thursday.
According to sources, disciplinary action was started against about a dozen officers in NADRA. Eight officers have been suspended and a charge sheet has been issued against the accused, while over a dozen are now likely to be penalized.
Nadra’s spokesperson confirmed the development and said that the move was made following the recommendations of a joint investigation team. The officials did not release individual names due to data privacy and ongoing legal proceedings.
READ MORE: Over 2.7 M Pakistanis’ data stolen from Nadra database: JIT report
According to the local publication, action has begun against Nadra staffers including three officials from the government body’s senior management — director general (DG) technical, DG network Karachi — and others.
On Tuesday, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to investigate the data leak from the Nadra database submitted a report to the Interior Ministry. JIT informed that between 2019 to 2023, the data of 27 lakh Pakistanis was leaked with the help of Nadra offices in Multan, Peshawar, and Karachi.
JIT, headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Cybercrime and comprising representatives of Military Intelligence and PTA was constituted to investigate the March 2023 cyberattack, in which personal information of citizens, including military officials, was accessed and stolen.