Karnataka SIR row: BJP leaders booked over alleged voter deletion attempts

FIRs have been registered in Belagavi, Bidar and Mysuru over alleged irregularities in Karnataka’s ongoing SIR of electoral rolls. Complaints allege misuse of Form-7 applications to seek deletion of voter names, including those of Muslim community members, police said

Belagavi (Karnataka): An FIR has been registered against Karnataka BJP leader Ravi Patil and others for allegedly attempting to get the names of 198 Muslim voters deleted from the electoral roll in Belagavi district using Form-7 applications during the ongoing SIR process, police said on Friday.

At least two other FIRs have been registered over alleged “SIR irregularities”, including one in Mysuru against local BJP leaders and others. The complainant there alleged a “conspiracy” to get his, his family’s and other members of the Muslim community’s names deleted during the SIR process, thereby hurting the religious sentiments of the community and creating disturbance in society.

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The case against Patil was registered at Belagavi Market police station following a complaint filed on September 30 by Meerasab Sanadi, who was working as a Booth Level Agent in Ward No. 12 of the Belagavi North Assembly constituency, they said.

According to the FIR, the complainant alleged that while assisting the BLO in the SIR of electoral rolls being undertaken by the EC and helping in the verification of voter information, on September 22 at around 2.30 pm, “the accused persons Patil, Shankar Beerappa Naik and Pashant Deepak Mundinmani, along with 20-25 others, allegedly came together with a malicious intention and conspired to target only voters belonging to the Muslim community.”

They allegedly conspired to delete the names of 198 voters from the electoral roll and created fake documents and submitted them to the BLO, falsely claiming that the documents were genuine and had been issued by the ERO, the complainant alleged.

In the complaint, he alleged that the Form-7 applications brought by the accused with fake documents also contained the names of him and his family members.

Form-7 is a voter application form for raising an objection to the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name in an existing electoral roll.

“They allegedly exerted pressure on the BLO and made another person speak over the phone, claiming to be the ERO, and obtained his signature, thereby cheating the complainant and the voters,” the FIR said.

The complainant also claimed that they intended to create a situation in which, if the names of the 198 Muslim community voters were deleted from the electoral roll, the affected persons might become agitated and engage in violence, thereby disturbing peace and public order.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 336(4) (forgery specifically intended to harm reputation), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 3(5) (common intention), 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.

Further investigation is underway, they said.

In another such case reported in Bidar, 40-year-old businessman and voter from Bhalki, Mohammed Ateeq Ahmed, alleged in his complaint that 3,244 voters, including him, were falsely shown as “shifted/absent” through Form-7 applications during the SIR of electoral rolls.

According to the FIR, he alleged that the applications were submitted without obtaining authenticated documents from the affected voters and that signatures were forged, with the intention of getting their names removed from the electoral roll.

Following his complaint, an FIR was registered on October 1, naming 32 accused persons in connection with the alleged irregularities.

In Mysuru, a complaint was lodged by Syed Hasarath Ulla, a social worker, who alleged that Form-7 applications were submitted during the SIR process claiming that he and his family members were not residing at their registered address, despite having lived there for several years.

He alleged that false information was entered in the forms and submitted to the ECI with the intention of getting his and his family members’ names deleted from the electoral roll.

The complainant further alleged that similar Form-7 applications containing false information were submitted against 28 other voters.

Following the complaint, a case was registered at Narasimharaja police station against Harish Kumar C, Raghavendra M and Anil Thomas, identified as BJP Minority President, along with others. The complaint alleged that they had conspired to get his, his family’s and other members of the Muslim community’s names deleted during the SIR process and thereby hurt the religious sentiments of the community and create disturbance in society.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, along with his Cabinet colleagues and MLAs, staged a sit-in outside Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar’s office on Thursday, demanding an FIR over alleged “electoral fraud” during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls