ECI probe reveals an official sent voter data to a private trust in Bengaluru: report
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Bengaluru: An Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of KR Puram in Bengaluru sent out an email to a private trust in the city with details of voter data on 10 Jan 2019, according to a probe by Election Commission of India.
The email sent to the private trust, Chilume, carried lists of names of young voters with their phone numbers in 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, The News Minute reported.
The probe report said that sharing of phone numbers of voters with a private organisation was a serious violation of procedure, adding that there is evidence collected from the old emails of BBMP showing that emails were sent to Chilume with details of young voters.
The report also said that ahead of 2018 assembly polls, a BJP candidate for the KR Pura constituency, Nandiesha Reddy, paid Chilume rupees 18 lakh for a voter data survey.
The probe report compiled by Amlan Biswas, who is the Regional Commissioner of Bengaluru division, exposed the involvement of BBMP officials in providing voters data to the trust.
The report, released on April 15, sought a police investigation into the incident.
Election Commission of India ordered the probe after TNM and Kannada news outlet Pratidvani reported the private trust’s involvement in voter data theft in Bengaluru, according to The News Minute.
Using a government order, Chilume reportedly obtained voter data under the pretext of revising electoral rolls for Karnataka elections.
‘However, they went on to forge identity cards to pass off their employees as block-level officers (BLOs) and other officials,’ The News Minute reported.