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Bengaluru voter data theft: Police, election commission start probe
The Congress on Friday demanded that the BJP government in Karnataka order a judicial probe monitored by a High Court Chief Justice to expose what it called the ‘Operation Voter’ scam
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar on Friday asked the party workers to examine electoral rolls at the booth level after alleged unauthorised voter data collection by an NGO in Bengaluru. “We will conduct such examinations in all constituencies. They should inform the officials if the discrepancies are found,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Those in Congress privy to the discussion said that the party will begin examining the electoral roll beginning Saturday and will file complaints at local police stations in case of discrepancies.
The Congress on Friday demanded that the BJP government in Karnataka order a judicial probe monitored by a High Court Chief Justice to expose what it called the ‘Operation Voter’ scam.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and former chief minister Siddaramaiah asked whether “the BJP government is trying to save its corrupt ministers framing an agent.’’
In a series of tweets, he charged the government with betraying people by allegedly ‘’stealing the voter information and illegally collecting their personal data’’.
‘’Bengaluru police have registered a case against an agent named Lokesh, who just works with Chilume for a salary of ₹20,000, in the #OperationVoter scam. Is this 40% @BSBommai Sarkara trying to save their corrupt ministers by making ordinary employee a scape goat?,’’ Siddaramaiah asked.
He said, ‘’We demand High Court Chief Justice-monitored judicial probe to expose the real culprits behind #OperationVoter scam. Why is the govt afraid of initiating a judicial probe? Why is @BSBommai in a hurry to brush the case off?’’ ‘’It is a blot on the democracy as BJP infringes upon the privacy of innocent people. @BSBommai & his cabinet should resign for cheating people,’’ the Congress leader said.
The statements come after NGO Chilume collected personal information from thousands of voters in Bengaluru by making their field agents pose as government officials. The data theft was enabled by a government order that allowed the NGO to “create awareness” about voter rights and the revision of electoral rolls.
The firm went door-to-door to allegedly collect personal details -- caste, education, mother tongue, Aadhaar and other details. The exercise was done using people identifying them as booth-level officers (BLO).
Meanwhile, BBMP on Friday said that action will be taken against Chilume if it is found that they had collected voter data. “In the complaint, it was not made clear that Chilume had collected private voter data. The NGO did not have permission to collect voter data or conduct a survey. Hence, a complaint was filed yesterday,” Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) chief commissioner Tushar Girinath told reporters.
“We have also asked the police to investigate whether private data was collected. We have also sought reports from Additional District Election Officers (ADEOs),” he added.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka Manoj Kumar Meena asked the regional commissioner of Bengaluru to conduct a detailed inquiry into the allegations.
“With regard to the complaint, the electoral registration officer reported that identity cards were issued to Chilume Educational, Cultural and Rural Development Trust (the NGO in question) to work as a booth-level coordinating officer on January 29, 2022, based on the permission of district election officer given to the said institution for coordinating with the BLOs and that the said institution has made photocopies of the ID cards and written BLO, June 9, 2022, on them,” Meena said in his letter.
According to the CEO, his office received such identity cards from other Assembly constituencies of Bengaluru city. “In view of the sensitivity and seriousness of the above issue, it is felt necessary that a comprehensive investigation is required to be conducted. Hence, you are requested to conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter and send a comprehensive report at the earliest,” Meena wrote.
In connection with the case of voter personal information theft in Bengaluru, the police raided the Chilume organizations. Halasuru Gate police raided the Chilume office in Malleswaram, Bengaluru and conducted an inspection. The police have already taken four people into custody and interrogated them.
The Bengaluru police on Friday searched the office and questioned officiating directors and members of Chilume. “Since our inquiry has just begun, we cannot substantially say that the officiating directors and members of Chilumer were missing. Different teams under the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bengaluru central have been formed and deployed,” said Bengaluru city police commissioner Pratap Reddy.
“Some people have been accused of identifying themselves to be part of private organisations and booth-level officers with ID cards. Some have been named in the complaint. We are probing if others are also involved,” he added.
