Bengaluru police register FIR in Rs 87 crore data theft case involving ex-employee of software firm

BENGALURU: The city police have registered a case in connection with an alleged data theft worth approximately Rs 87 crore after a leading software company accused its former employee of illegally transferring sensitive source code and proprietary data.

The city police have registered an FIR at the Whitefield CEN crime police station in connection with the case, booked as Crime No. 0050/2026. The complaint was filed by Amadeus Software Labs India Pvt Ltd, a leading technology firm, against its former employee Ashutosh Nigam.

According to the FIR, Nigam, who was working as Senior Manager-Research Scientist, allegedly exfiltrated the company’s highly confidential source code and sensitive data on October 11, 2025, by transferring it without authorisation through his personal email account.

The company became suspicious of a possible data breach during an internal review and subsequently questioned the accused. During the enquiry, Nigam reportedly confessed to the unauthorised data transfer, which was recorded on video. Following this, Amadeus Software Labs terminated his services on December 3, 2025.

The company has claimed that the stolen software and source code are valued at approximately 8 million euros, translating to nearly Rs 87 crore, and that the breach has resulted in significant business losses while posing a direct threat to its intellectual property rights.

Based on the complaint, police have registered the case under Sections 65, 66, 66(C), and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deal with computer-related offences, identity theft, and cheating by personation using computer resources. An investigation has been initiated, and a detailed report has also been submitted to the court. (ANI)