Navi Mumbai: Five Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been suspended after a BJP worker was allegedly caught red-handed while photocopying 3,404 filled-in official Special Intensive Revision (SIR) forms at a photocopy shop in Kharghar, raising serious concerns over the security and handling of voters’ personal data.
The documents were subsequently verified by officials from the Raigad Collector’s office and found to be original forms submitted by voters during the electoral roll revision exercise. The forms were reportedly under the responsibility of the BLOs.
Raigad Officials Verify Forms As Original Election Documents
“Our officers verified that the documents found were indeed original, which were the responsibility of the BLOs, and hence we suspended five BLOs from that area,” said the Raigad Collector.
The FIR was registered at Kharghar police station on Friday based on a complaint filed by Sunil Kisan Jadhav, Nayab Tehsildar, Panvel. BJP worker, as confirmed by Kharghar police, Suraj Patil has been booked under Section 314 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act.
BJP Worker Booked Under BNS And Representation Of People Act
The incident came to light after Patil was allegedly found photocopying the filled-in SIR forms at a photocopy shop in Sector 19, Kharghar. The forms contain information collected from voters as part of the SIR exercise, including voters’ photographs, details filled in the prescribed columns and signatures of the concerned BLOs.
Officials Find Forms Linked To Panvel Assembly Constituency
According to the FIR, the forms were subsequently examined by revenue officials at Kharghar police station. The officials found that the documents appeared to be original SIR forms belonging to the Election Department and pertaining to the 188 Panvel Assembly constituency.
Due to the large number of forms and the immediate unavailability of sufficient manpower, the forms were counted and recorded according to electoral roll part numbers rather than individually.
Election Commission Bags And Sealed Documents Recovered
A cloth bag bearing the words “Election Commission of India”, the Election Commission logo and “Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls” was also found during the inspection. The numbers 138 and 149 were written on the bag.
The forms were packed into five bags and placed inside a sack. Labels bearing the signatures of the panch witnesses and the complainant were affixed, after which the material was sealed and deposited with the police.
According to Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator from Kharghar Leena Garad, the party’s Kharghar division chief, Balesh Bhojne, allegedly alerted the police and called them to the spot after noticing the activity.
Garad further alleged that the concerned BJYM office-bearer abused, threatened and pushed Bhojne during the incident. She also claimed that after the worker was brought to Kharghar police station, he subsequently left the premises.
Opposition Questions How Original Voter Forms Reached Private Premises
“We want to know how such a large number of original SIR forms came into the possession of the concerned individual in the first place. These were forms containing voters’ personal information and were supposed to be in the custody of the BLOs,” said Garad.
The recovery of such a large number of original voter forms outside the custody of the officials responsible for them has raised questions over the handling and security of voters’ personal information. The key question now is how the original SIR forms came into the possession of the concerned individual and under what circumstances they were being photocopied.
“We detained and served him with a notice as per the procedure. We will soon record his statement. Prima facie, he was an office-bearer of the BJP,” said Kharghar senior police inspector Sanjay Joshi.
The FIR states that the complaint was preceded by information received through social media and a WhatsApp complaint from Shiv Sena (UBT) Raigad district contact chief Prasad Dada Bhoir. Shiv Sena (UBT) Panvel city chief and BLA-1 Samadhan Kashid also submitted a complaint seeking immediate inquiry and action after the SIR forms were allegedly found at the photocopy shop.
Police have initiated an investigation into the circumstances under which the original SIR forms came into the possession of the accused, their alleged photocopying and the lapses in their custody. The investigation has been assigned to API Pradip Dwarka Navnath Avhad.
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