The Karnataka Police SIT, probing the case of voter list irregularities of the Aland seat, found that a data centre operator was paid Rs 80 for each fraudulent voter deletion. The Aland voter list irregularities were one of the cases brought up by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as part of his “vote chori” allegations against the BJP.
Voter deletion applications and data centre
The SIT also mentioned that a total of 6,018 such applications to delete voters’ names were made between December 2022 and February 2023 in the seat, working out to a total payment of Rs 4.8 lakh. Last week, the SIT raided properties linked to BJP leader Subhash Guttedar, who lost from Aland in 2023 to the Congress’s B R Patil, as part of the probe.
The SIT took over the investigation into the Aland case on September 26 , and targeted a data centre located in the Kalaburagi district headquarters as the location from which the applications were submitted.
What did SIT find?
According to officials, the investigation initially handled by local police and a CID cyber crime unit before being taken over by the SIT, suggested a local resident, Mohammed Ashfaq’s involvement in the deletions discovered in February 2023. However, Ashfaq was let off after he claimed innocence and promised to surrender the electronic devices he had. He also moved to Dubai subsequently.
The SIT allegedly found that Ashfaq was communicating via Internet calls with associates, including Md Akram, Junaid, Aslam, and Nadeem. The SIT conducted further searches on October 17 at the residences of BJP leader Guttedar, his sons Harshananda and Santhosh, and their chartered accountant, Mallikarjun Mahantagol.
The SIT Officers seized more than seven laptops and mobile phones, and are currently investigating the source of the funds used for the payouts. The probe reportedly found that 75 mobile numbers belonging to people as varied as a poultry farm worker to relatives of policemen were used to register with the EC portal to place requests for changes in voter lists of Aland.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not yet determined how data centre operators illegitimately accessed the Election Commission (EC) portal to submit fake voter deletion requests. These applications, which sought to remove 6,018 voters in the Aland constituency, were made using voter identities without the knowledge of either the local applicants or the affected voters.
Meanwhile, four-time MLA Guttedar, who has been linked to the issue, denies any involvement, claiming the allegations are politically motivated by the Congress winner, B.R. Patil, who seeks a ministerial position. Crucially, a ground-level review by election officials found that only 24 of the 6,018 requested deletions were actually justified, as the voters no longer resided in the area.