5 months ago
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After the probe into elector fraud successful Aland Assembly constituency, successful which a chargesheet was filed precocious against a erstwhile BJP MLA arsenic the premier accused, the Karnataka authorities has present turned its absorption to the 2022 Chilume Trust case. The lawsuit progressive the NGO with alleged links to the BJP, roped successful by the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities up of the 2023 Assembly elections successful Bengaluru, facing accusations of elector information theft.
The State government, connected November 27, 2025, appointed elder advocator Ravi Verma Kumar to correspond the State successful a writ petition earlier the High Court. There were 2 FIRs successful the lawsuit successful Halasuru Gate and Kadugodi Police Stations successful transportation with the scandal, presently stayed.
Sources successful the State authorities said the authorities wants to get the enactment connected these FIRs vacated, and Prof. Kumar’s assignment has been made successful this context. If the enactment bid is vacated, the probe into these FIRs volition apt beryllium handed implicit to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by B.K. Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, is presently probing elector fraud successful Aland.
Voter information theft
Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust was roped successful to behaviour SVEEP activities and was progressive successful Mahadevapura, Shivajinagar and Chickpet assembly constituencies successful 2022.
A media exposure showed that those employed by the Trust were illegally collecting elector information connected a backstage mobile app called Digital Sameeksha. The Trust was linked to a governmental consultancy steadfast done a communal manager and is besides allegedly linked to leaders successful the BJP. Following this, the NGO was blacklisted by the BBMP and FIRs were filed.
An enquiry by the Regional Commissioner, Bengaluru Division, recovered that the Trust illegally collected elector information and stored the aforesaid connected a overseas server, providing an accidental for its misuse. However, the enquiry ruled retired manipulation of electoral rolls successful the 3 assembly constituencies.
New perspective
Amidst allegations of targeted elector deletions, arsenic seen successful Aland assembly constituency, and alleged to person taken spot successful respective different constituencies being raised by Leader of Opposition successful the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, sources successful the constabulary said that caller perspectives had emerged and needed probe into the Chilume Trust case.
“How are voters targeted for alleged malafide deletions identified is simply a question that inactive has nary wide answers. The Chilume Trust lawsuit is simply a much analyzable case, much granular than what happened successful Aland. Here the NGO was authorised to interrogation the voters. Were the voters profiled and however does this information necktie successful with deletions from elector rolls successful these constituencies request to beryllium probed,” said a elder functionary from the government.
Petition to CEO
Sources said that of peculiar involvement is simply a petition filed by those allegedly linked to the BJP successful 2022 to the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, with a database of 26,000 voters from the Shivajinagar Assembly constituency, claiming they were fake voters and seeking their names to beryllium deleted.
Eventually, 14,727 names were deleted from the rolls successful Shivajinagar Assembly constituency. However, the enquiry study of the Regional Commissioner said that the Roll Observer recovered lone 3.3% incorrect deletions and due corrective measures had been taken.
