Two GHMC SFAs arrested for fingerprint cloning

Hyderabad: The central zone task force busted a fingerprint cloning racket with the arrest of two GHMC sanitation field assistants (SFAs), who had caused a loss of Rs 86.40 lakh to the civic body in two years. The GHMC had earlier announced that it would switch to an artificial intelligence-based system to prevent such scams.

The accused P. Shivaiah Umesh (40) and J. Shivaram (40), posted in circle-XVI, Amberpet division, were arrested on Friday. They illegally claimed salaries of sanitation workers who were absent by using their cloned fingerprints, task force DCP S. Rashmi Perumal said.

In the scam, sanitation workers press their thumb on a layer of candle wax and create a fingerprint impression. This is used on an artificial thumb made using sealants, glue or wax. This is used to mark the attendance in biometric systems.

Several workers were not physically attending duties but their attendance was being marked regularly.

There are 900 SFAs in 30 GHMC circles in the twin cities. About 24,000 sweepers/public health workers are working under SFAs. The accused along with the seized property were handed over to Amberpet police station for further investigation.