I managed to get through to an agent at CIC when I called up earlier and had an interesting conversation. I asked the agent to go through the file to give me an update on the status of my application and was informed that:
Eligbility Cleared
Criminality Cleared
Security Check Not Started
So the agent informed me that he would contact the concerned case officer and request for an update on my file and that I might receive an update either through my CIC account or by mail. The whole conversation was a big relief for me.
However, the funny part is when I had asked for an update using the online web form, I had received the following reply which was just before I managed to get in touch with the CIC agent:
The responsible office is currently verifying if your application meets the eligibility requirements
The background verifications are not in process yet.
So basically the update I received using the web form was definitely outdated and this could be the possible scenario for others as well. It would be better for everyone to get in touch with a CIC agent and get an update rather than rely on the inaccurate responses when using the web form.