Jharkhand orders action against fake voter enrolment

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar on Saturday directed police to register FIRs against five people allegedly involved in attempts to secure inclusion in electoral rolls using fake documents.

Kumar issued the directions during a four-day visit to Sahibganj, where he reviewed complaints linked to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the Santhal Pargana region.

During an inspection in the Pakur Assembly constituency, officials identified four people — Rubeda Bewa, Ravi Sheikh, Pintu Sheikh and Sentu Sheikh — who allegedly submitted fake residential certificates for voter enrolment. A Common Service Centre operator, Mohammad Salim, was also identified for allegedly issuing forged certificates.

Kumar visited the accused persons’ residences in Barharwa and conducted an on-site verification. Barharwa police said an FIR would be registered after receiving a formal complaint.

The CEO also flagged instances of caste certificates allegedly being issued in violation of norms applicable to the SIR exercise. He directed district election officers and electoral registration officers to conduct thorough verification of submitted documents and take legal action wherever deliberate forgery is established.

The Election Commission published Jharkhand’s draft electoral rolls on August 5 after deleting more than 43.61 lakh names. The state had around 2.64 crore electors before the SIR exercise, while the draft list contains approximately 2.21 crore voters.

The deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended to September 15, while publication of the final revised electoral rolls has been deferred to October 19. 

with inputs from PTI