To crack Modi,I-T fields FREDDIE

It was a while ago that the government imported a batch of identical computer forensic units for central investigating agencies,but Thursday was the first time “Freddie” was exposed to full media glare.

The yellow kit carried to the BCCI headquarters and subsequently to Lalit Modi’s office for cloning the hard disk of his laptop was the portable version of FRED (Forensic Recovering of Evidence Device) called FREDDIE (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device Diminutive Interrogation Unit),costing around $ 5,000 a piece.

The equipment is termed the ultimate mobile field forensic system,which is used “on location”,mostly at crime scenes for cloning hard disks,CD-ROMs and DVDs. Members of the IT team camping in Mumbai say the unit has become a must-carry for them during key search-and-seizure operations. They are now in the process of analysing the drafts of contracts and e-mails retrieved from the hard disk of the Modi’s laptop,they added.