Pune: Six labourers were arrested for attempting bogus voting using fake Aadhaar cards at a polling booth set up at Jogeshwari School in Kesnand during the Zilla Parishad elections on Saturday. The case was registered by the police after election officials refused to file a formal complaint.
According to the police, three of the accused had already cast their votes, while three others were standing in the queue when local party workers became suspicious as the men did not appear to be residents of the village. On being questioned, they claimed to be staying at nearby labour camps. Verification of their Aadhaar cards revealed that the documents were fake, following which they were handed over to the police.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mohammad Ehsan Nazar Mohammad Shah (20), Arshad Roshan Ali (22), Akhilesh Biju Prasad Kumar (20, native of Uttar Pradesh), all residents of labour camps in Kesnand. The others are Dilip Saku Chavan (36) of VTP Labour Camp, Wagholi, and Premdas Ramchandra Rathod (30) and Ashwini Premdas Rathod (27), both residents of Kesnand.
The incident occurred between 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm on Saturday. Further verification by party workers led to the identification of three more individuals in the queue carrying fake documents.
When the police approached election officials for a formal complaint, they declined, stating that the voters possessed Aadhaar cards, their names appeared on the electoral rolls, and no objections were raised by polling agents. Consequently, the police registered the case themselves and arrested all six.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted that they were given money and fake Aadhaar cards by unidentified persons and were instructed to cast votes. A detailed investigation is underway to trace those behind the racket.
Police Inspector Pallavi Meher is conducting further investigation.
