Bangalore:
A techie in Bangalore, who was suspended for poor performance last month, has gone missing after allegedly stealing the company's confidential data worth crores.
Sukhbir Benipal, owner of the New Jersey-headquartered Benipal Technologies, which has its office in Koramangala, filed a complaint with the police on Friday.
In the complaint, he has stated that the data could fetch the suspended employee, Rajeev Bhandarkar, crores if he sells it to other IT companies.
An official from the Kormangala police said the incident came to light when the management noticed that Bhandarkar did not return to work from a vacation he had taken at the beginning of the month.
According to the complaint, the management tried to contact him on his mobile phone, but Bhandarkar was not reachable.
A detailed scrutiny found that someone had accessed the main server of the company and
could have downloaded the confidential data.
"The staff also found an 8 GB pen drive missing from the stock and suspected that Bhandarkar might have flicked it to store the stolen data," said the official.
In the complaint, Sukhbir has stated that Bhandarkar joined the company in January.
His profile included software coding and he was, thus, authorised to access the main server, which connects to all the branches including the head office.
The management had suspended Bhandarkar citing reasons like a lackadaisical attitude, low productivity and general disinterest on August 30. Bhandarkar rejoined a week later with an assurance to change his attitude.
Bhandarkar went on leave on September 9 for Ganesh Chaturthi after taking his monthly salary.
Sukhbir said that Bhandarkar had made a passing remark a few days before he left the company and said he could access the server from his personal net connection from home.
"We have changed the password to prevent further damage," Sukhbir told the police while filing the complaint.
However, when contacted, Sukhbir refused to comment on the issue and said it would affect his business prospects.
"A complaint has been registered and police teams are looking out for Bhandarkar," said Koramangala police Inspector Nagraj K.