NIA Conducts Searches in Five States Over Cyber Attacks on Government Sites
Raids in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar and Delhi target accused linked to Distributed Denial of Service attacks on 54 websites during Operation Sindoor.
New Delhi1 min read
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The National Investigation Agency conducted searches at five locations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar and Delhi on August 25 in a cyber terrorism case linked to attacks on 54 government websites.
The case, registered as the Cyber Terrorism Gujarat Case, concerns Distributed Denial of Service attacks that took place during Operation Sindoor. Investigators say the accused disrupted public services and critical digital infrastructure.
Locations searched included Junnar in Pune, Nadiad in Kheda, Ramagundam in Karimnagar, Gopalganj and a site in Delhi. Officials recovered digital devices, documents and other material for forensic examination.
Operation Sindoor was a major government digital security exercise. The attacks on 54 websites during that period prompted the NIA to take over the investigation under its cyber terrorism mandate.
NIA teams are examining whether the DDoS campaigns were coordinated from multiple points and whether any foreign handlers or funding were involved. Preliminary findings have not been made public.
The agency has previously handled cases involving cross-border cyber operations against Indian government and financial targets. This investigation continues that focus on organised digital disruption.
Local police in the five states provided support for the searches. No arrests were immediately announced. The NIA typically follows searches with summons or arrests once forensic analysis yields actionable evidence.
Government websites targeted during the earlier attacks included portals of central and state departments that handle citizen services. Temporary outages forced some agencies to switch to backup systems.
Cyber security officials have noted a rise in politically timed DDoS campaigns against Indian digital infrastructure. The current case is one of the larger coordinated sets of attacks investigated under the NIA's specialised cyber wing.
Further updates will depend on the analysis of seized material and the questioning of individuals linked to the five locations.
