The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged voter fraud in Aland on Friday raided four premises associated with Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former MLA Subhash Guttedar in Kalaburagi. This is the first time that allegations of voter fraud have been linked to a BJP leader.
Mr Guttedar won the Aland seat in 2018 by a slim margin of 697 votes against Congress leader BR Patil. As a sitting MLA, Mr. Guttedar lost the seat by 10,348 votes to Mr. Patil in 2023, before which attempts were made to delete 5,994 voters from the rolls by misusing credentials of other voters.
The investigation into the case registered in February 2023 hit a snag as the Election Commission of India (ECI) did not share key technical data, The Hindu reported on September 7.
The SIT, headed by BK Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Branch, which is probing the case, recently made a breakthrough in identifying the Kalaburagi call center from where the fake Form 7s were allegedly made; interrogated several people who worked there, raided their residences, and obtained key digital evidence.
Following this, the SIT on Friday raided four premises associated with Mr Guttedar – his residences and premises associated with his chartered accountant.
Detectives recovered several digital devices and key evidence from the premises, sources said.
Documents burned
Meanwhile, there was great drama in Aland when raids took place in Kalaburagi. Sources said a box of documents was burnt outside Mr Guttedar’s residence. Some documents and cremated remains were reportedly transported in a van and disposed of in the backwaters of the Amarja dam near Shakapur village.
SIT sleuths reached the spot on Friday evening. They put on searchlights, got some documents and did a mahazar of the place.
Published – 17 Oct 2025 20:57 IST
