Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Oct 23: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police, which is probing irregularities in the voters’ list in the Aland Assembly constituency, has uncovered that data centre operators were paid Rs 80 per application to delete voters’ names fraudulently, The Indian Express reported.
Aland is one of the key constituencies mentioned by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his allegations of “vote theft” against the BJP.
According to the SIT, between December 2022 and February 2023, a total of 6,018 applications for voter name deletions were submitted, involving an estimated payment of Rs 4.8 lac. Last week, the SIT conducted raids on properties linked to BJP leader Subhash Guttedar, who lost to Congress’s B R Patil from Aland in the 2023 Assembly elections.
On September 26, the SIT officially took over the probe from the CID’s Cyber Crime Division. It has identified a data centre located in Kalaburagi district as the hub from where deletion requests were sent.
Investigators first traced the irregularities to a local resident, Mohammed Ashfaq, whose role surfaced in February 2023. He was questioned by officials but later released after claiming innocence and promising to hand over his electronic devices.
Meanwhile, on October 17, the team conducted searches at the residences of Guttedar, his sons Harshanand and Santosh, and their chartered accountant, Mallikarjun Mahantagol.
During the raids, officials seized seven laptops and multiple mobile phones and are now tracing the source of funds used for the alleged payments.
The SIT is also investigating how the data centre operators obtained unauthorized access to the Election Commission’s (EC) portal to file fake voter deletion requests.
As reported by The Indian Express, neither the officials involved nor the affected voters were aware of the fraudulent activity.
Aland MLA B R Patil has invited Rahul Gandhi to hold a massive rally in Kalaburagi over the alleged vote theft issue.
Four-time MLA Guttedar, however, has denied any role in the voter deletion scheme, alleging that his rival B R Patil has made baseless accusations for personal and political gain. “Patil wants to become a minister and is making these unfounded allegations to gain Rahul Gandhi’s favour,” Guttedar said.
The SIT investigation into the voter list manipulation case is ongoing.