Karnataka BJP leader, others booked over alleged Form-7 voter deletion
An FIR has been registered against Karnataka BJP leader Ravi Patil and others for allegedly attempting to delete the names of 198 voters belonging to the minority community from the electoral roll in Belagavi district through Form-7 applications during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), police said on Friday.
The case was registered at Belagavi Market police station on September 30 following a complaint filed by Meerasab Sanadi, who was working as a Booth Level Agent in Ward No. 12 of the Belagavi North Assembly constituency, police said.
According to the FIR, Sanadi alleged that while assisting the Booth Level Officer during the SIR process and helping verify voter details, he found that Patil, Shankar Beerappa Naik and Pashant Deepak Mundinmani, along with 20-25 others, had allegedly gathered on September 22 around 2.30 pm with an intention to target voters belonging to the Muslim community.
The complainant alleged that the accused conspired to seek deletion of 198 voters' names from the electoral roll and submitted what he claimed were forged documents to the BLO, falsely representing them as genuine documents issued by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
Sanadi further 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 used to file an objection to the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name from an existing electoral roll.
The FIR alleged that the accused pressured the BLO and arranged for another person to speak over the phone while claiming to be the ERO. The person allegedly obtained the BLO's signature, which the complainant claimed was used to cheat him and the affected voters.
The complainant also alleged that the accused intended to create a situation where deletion of the names of the 198 Muslim voters could provoke them into violence, potentially disturbing public peace and order.
Police said the FIR was 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 offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Further investigation is underway.
Similar Form-7 complaints in Bidar, Mysuru
In a separate case in Bidar, 40-year-old businessman and voter from Bhalki, Mohammed Ateeq Ahmed, alleged that Form-7 applications were used to falsely show 3,244 voters, including him, as "shifted/absent" during the SIR process.
According to the FIR, Ahmed 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.
An FIR was registered on October 1 following his complaint, naming 32 accused persons in connection with the alleged irregularities.
In Mysuru, social worker Syed Hasarath Ulla alleged that Form-7 applications were submitted during the SIR process claiming that he and his family members did not live at their registered address, despite having resided there for several years.
He alleged that false information was entered in the forms and submitted to the Election Commission of India with the intention of getting his and his family members' names deleted from the electoral roll.
Ulla further alleged that similar Form-7 applications containing false information were submitted against 28 other voters.
Following his complaint, a case was registered at Narasimharaja police station against Harish Kumar C, Raghavendra M and Anil Thomas (BJP Minority President), along with others. They were accused of allegedly conspiring to delete the votes of Ulla, his family members and other members of the Muslim community during the SIR process, and of attempting to create social disturbance and hurt religious sentiments.
Shivakumar stages protest
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, along with Cabinet colleagues and MLAs, staged a sit-in outside Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar's office on Thursday.
The protest was held over alleged "electoral fraud" during the ongoing SIR exercise, with Shivakumar and other leaders demanding registration of an FIR. (with inputs from PTI)
