Bengaluru: Thousands of voter ID cards and documents seized from a Jalahalli flat in R.R. Nagar constituency by the flying squad of the Election Commission appeared to have been collected systematically from various slums and put into covers with names and mobile numbers written on them, indicating they were intended for collection by someone, possibly to influence voters, said Karnataka Chief Election Officer, Sanjiv Kumar on Wednesday.
All fears about someone hacking into the Election Commission website had been proved wrong and all the seized documents were original.
“The documents, including Voter ID cards, around 9866 EPIC cards, 6,342 fresh voter acknowledgement letters with BBMP seals and another 27,700 acknowledgements without its seals are all original,” he elaborated, adding that two people had been arrested and investigation was on into the racket.
“There were some bottles of water containing the sticker of a political party and two pamphlets in the flat. However, based on them, one cannot jump to the conclusion that a particular party is behind it all,” he added.
Asked about the BJP and Congress trading charges over the owner of the apartment, Manjula Nanjamari, an associate of RR Nagar MLA, Munirathna, the officer said all parties' claims had been verified and a report sent to the CEC. Now it was upto the Deputy Election Commissioner , who is expected in the city, to take a decision, he revealed.
Going by the officer, as many as 25,825 voters were added to the RR Nagar voters’ list earlier this year and another 19012 voters a little later, taking their number to 4.71 lakh . “We also found acknowledgements for another 6342 voters to be added to the list during the raid, which shows there was a deliberate attempt to influence voters, which is a serious offence,” Mr Kumar added.
Meanwhile, the EC has permitted use of choppers as requested by various parties. Of the 182 requisitions received, 142 were approved and three were under consideration, he said.
So far, the SIT and flying squad of the EC have seized Rs 54.86 crore in cash and liquor worth Rs 24.13 crore. Also, during the last 24 hours, the squads had seized Rs 77,230 in cash, two vehicles, 160 pressure cookers, and 60 LPG stoves. The static surveillance team had seized Rs 43.59 crore in cash, gold ornaments worth over Rs 15.26 crore and liquor worth over Rs 2.26 crore, he added.
