Sunil Lohan
The Yeshwanthapur police have registered an FIR against a BJP-linked Booth Level Agent (BLA-2) for allegedly submitting false Form-7 applications seeking deletion of 136 voters from the electoral rolls in Malleshwaram Assembly constituency.
The FIR was registered on October 5 based on a complaint by Anoop Iyengar, 47,a Congress leader and the party’s candidate from Malleshwaram in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.
According to the complaint,the alleged irregularities surfaced during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR)of electoral rolls in Ward No.45.The disputed applications relate to Booth No. 68 at Subedarpalya.
The complainant alleged that Deepak Singh,identified in the FIR as a BLA-2,submitted Form-7 applications claiming that voters were either absent from their residences or had permanently shifted,even though they were allegedly residing in the constituency.
Police records state that 136 applicationswere submitted seeking deletion of the voters’ names.The complainant also alleged that the signatures appearing on several Form-7 applications differed substantially from the signatures of the purported applicants,raising suspicion that the signatures may have been forged.
The complaint further alleged that Deepak Singh and his associates had conspired to identify voters and prepare and submit a large number of Form-7 applications with the alleged intention of depriving eligible voters of their right to remain on the electoral rolls.
The Yeshwanthapur police have registered Case under Sections 319(2), 336(2), 340(2), 61(2)(b) and 217(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The FIR was registered at 4 PM on October 5,and police have taken up an investigation.The FIR states that officers would proceed to the spot as part of the investigation.
The case comes amid allegations of large-scale misuse of Form-7 applications during the revision of electoral rolls in Bengaluru.
Police are expected to examine the disputed applications, signatures and the circumstances in which they were prepared and submitted.
