Thiruvananthapuram: The allegation of bogus voting in the police department will be investigated by Intelligence ADGP T.K. Vinod Kumar. DGP Loknath Behera has said that if any policemen were found guilty of the crime, strict action will be taken against them. The police headquarters had issued guidelines for postal votes before the polls
It has been alleged that the police association was collecting postal ballots from the members and depositing them in the ballot boxes. The voice messages of a policeman asking other policemen to give him the postal ballots for handing over to a police association leader had been circulating in the WhatsApp group of police personnel posted at Sreepadmanabha Swamy Temple. As many as 58,000 cops were deployed for election duty. The police association has dismissed the allegations of rigging in postal votes and asserted that these things do not happen with the knowledge of the police force.
The modus operandi of the association was to get the postal votes of policemen and ensure that votes are polled in their name. The association led by Left-leaning policemen allegedly insisted that members who went for election duties on the polling day vote via postal ballots and send them to a particular address. To evade suspicion, the association asked the policemen to send the ballots to different addresses.
A policeman hailing from Vattappara working in AR camp in Thrissur revealed to a news channel that the association had bought postal votes in bulk from members to carry out bogus voting in favour of Left candidates. He received four postal ballots from Vattappara post office in his address.
Sources said Form-12 and the ballot paper will be distributed to police personnel through the superintendent of police or the nodal officer appointed for the purpose. Though the police personnel had to personally sign and collect the ballot paper, there was no rule that the ballot paper should be returned personally by the person using the postal ballot. This clause is being misused by the association, sources said.
