Odisha police releases OUAT website hacker on PR bond

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 19:

The Twin City Commissionerate Police today released Tarini Prasad Samantaray, the engineering student arrested in connection with the hacking of the official website of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) on Personal Recognizance (PR) bond.

However, he is likely to be charge sheeted in the case, informed Police Commissioner R P Sharma here today.

“We released him on bond after arresting him. There was no need to forward him. It’s a bailable offence where bail can be allowed at the police station. Now he is likely to be charge sheeted. Though his intention was not bad but he has hacked the website,” said Sharma to reporters.

Scared and sensing trouble after reports in the media Samantaray had on Monday evening visited Khandagiri police station and confessed to having hacked the website.

“After I hacked the website, I didn’t even visit the website nor have checked it after that. When I tried to access it again by that time it was down. I wasn’t aware that their website’s security was weak. It happened. After watching television reports on the hacking I was scared. I visited the police station and confessed,” said a visibly disturbed Samantaray.

OUAT vice chancellor Prof Manoranjan Kar said we are taking steps to make the website more secure

“We will take steps to make the website more secure, so that such attempts are not successful in the future,” said Prof Kar in his reactions.

The official website of the OUAT was hacked on Friday between 6 pm to 8 pm in the evening by a hacker identifying himself as ‘Don’.

After media alerted Prof Kar about the hacking he had asked officials to shut down the website and remove it from the server immediately as a precautionary measure.

OUAT authorities had registered an FIR with the Khandagiri police station here on Saturday about the hacking of the website and had also marked a copy of the same to the Crime Branch.