BR Patil | Photo credit: file photo
A major breakthrough has been achieved by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating alleged voter fraud in Aland.
SIT sleuths on Wednesday raided the residences of four suspects who allegedly created fake Form 7 to deliberately delete genuine voters from the rolls. All the four suspects are from Kalaburagi district.
The four allegedly worked at a call center in Kalaburagi in 2023 from where the forged Form 7s were allegedly produced.
Sources said the SIT interrogated them and also found several electronic devices which would be subjected to forensic examination. Some of these devices were allegedly used to produce counterfeit Form 7 applications.
Following a complaint by BR Patil, the Congress candidate in the 2023 polls, that forged Form 7s were submitted to delete the names of his supporters from the lists, an inquiry by the Returning Officer (RO) found that out of 6,018 Form 7s, 5,994 were forged.
The crooks asked to delete voters who misused other voters’ credentials without anyone knowing. Based on the complaint of the RO, an FIR was registered on 21 February 2023.
The Hindu reported on September 7, 2025 that the investigation into the case has gone cold as despite 18 reminders, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not shared key technical data to geo-locate the systems used to produce these forged Forms 7.
Following a report and press conference by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi flagging the case, the state government formed an SIT headed by BK Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department.
The European citizens’ initiative had yet to share this data. However, the SIT has made a breakthrough in identifying the suspects who allegedly filed these forged Form 7 applications, sources said. However, they added that the investigation is still at a preliminary stage.
Published – 15 October 2025 21:35 IST
