All voter IDs seized from flat original: Poll official

Bengaluru: The thousands of voter ID cards and other documents seized from a flat in Jalahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR) 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 here on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, the officer said 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 was expected in the city, to take a decision on the issue, 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 19,012 voters a little later, taking their number to 4.71 lakh.

“But 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.