The CBD Belapur police have registered a case of cheating and forgery against 22 persons for allegedly forging documents to get a voter identity card.
The deputy tehsildar (election) of Belapur constituency, during the physical verification, found electricity bills submitted as address proof by these 22 persons for registration of a new voter card were forged.
Police said that during the physical verification, the booth level official (BLO) found discrepancies in the address mentioned in the documents and people residing at that address.
“The BLO found that these people were not available at the address as mentioned in the electricity bill,” said an official from CBD Belapur police station.
Rajshree Pednekar, the Tehsildar Incharge (election) of the Belapur constituency verified the electricity bills with the MSEDCL and found that documents were forged by the applicants and a complaint was registered with the police.
A special drive for registration of new voter cards and correction in existing cards ended on December 5. As per the Tehsil office, for a new voter card, applicants were required to submit Form 06 and attach proof of residence like ration card, electricity bill, Property Tax Receipt, Gas connection, among others.
For the online registration of new voters, the government has launched an online service called the National Voter Service Portal (NVSP) through the Election Commission of India. The person can register to get their new voting identity card by submitting required documents online as per the rules.
“After receiving all documents, a BLO is appointed who visits the address mentioned in the form for physical verification. Based on the feedback of BLO, a further decision is taken for applicants applied online on NVSP,” said the official. However, the BLO as well as the voter registration office found the electricity bills of these 22 applicants forged.
According to police, all the 22 applicants are residents of Nerul and Seawoods and they allegedly submitted fake electricity bills. A case has been registered against them under sections 419, 465, 468, 471, and section 31 of Representation of the People Act 1950, 1951, and 1989.
