343 Voter ID Cards With Indore Addresses Found On Narmada Bank At Mandleshwar

Mandleshwar (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 343 voter ID cards bearing Indore addresses were recovered from the Narmada riverbank at Mandleshwar on Sunday, prompting Congress workers to stage a protest and demand an investigation into the incident.

Members of the Niswarth Seva Group, Indore, reportedly found the cards floating in the river and lying along the bank during a Narmada cleanliness drive. A spot 'panchnama' prepared by the administration recorded 343 cards.

The addresses on the cards were from Tilak Nagar area, including Aastha Palace, Akash Nagar and Shraddhapuri in Indore. Officials are investigating how the cards reached Mandleshwar, around 90 km from Indore.

Khargone district Congress president Ravi Naik, Maheshwar block Congress president Sabel Singh Patel, city Congress president Santosh Chauhan and other workers reached Mandleshwar police station with the cards and demanded an FIR against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They staged a sit-in at the police station gate after police said action would follow an investigation.

Naik alleged that the recovery indicated 'vote theft' and demanded an impartial probe into how the documents reached the riverbank.

SDOP Shweta Shukla, Maheshwar tehsildar Kailash Sastya, naib tehsildar Sanjay Bavel and Kasrawad police station in-charge Indresh Tripathi reached the spot.

On the tehsildar's instructions, patwari Sukhdev Rawat and the revenue team prepared a spot 'panchnama' and seized all 343 cards.

Mandleshwar police station in-charge Pankaj Tiwari said Congress representatives had submitted an application and further legal action would depend on facts emerging during investigation.

Shukla said the recovered cards carried Indore addresses and information was being sought from the concerned election office and Indore administration.

Police and administrative authorities are investigating whether the cards reached Mandleshwar due to negligence or other circumstances. Congress ended its protest after submitting the application.