‘Rs 80 Paid For Every Voter Deletion In Aland’: Karnataka SIT Makes Stunning Claim

Final Up to date:October 22, 2025, 19:52 IST

Rahul Gandhi earlier alleged that 6,018 functions in Aland had been filed impersonating voters in a bid to delete the names of unique voters.

The Karnataka Particular Investigation Group (SIT) probing alleged voter record irregularities in the course of the 2023 Meeting elections has reportedly discovered that knowledge centre operators had been paid Rs 80 for each fraudulent voter deletion submission made to the Election Fee within the Aland seat forward of the polls.

The Aland voter record irregularities had been cited by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as a part of his “vote chori” allegations in opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP). Gandhi alleged that 6,018 functions in Aland had been filed impersonating voters in a bid to delete the names of unique voters.

The SIT, led by Deputy SP Alsan Basha, beforehand raided the residence of former Aland MLA and BJP chief Subhash Guttedar on Friday.

Sources instructed The Indian Categorical that the SIT, which took over the investigation case on September 26, had focused a knowledge centre situated within the Kalaburagi district headquarters, from the place the functions had been submitted. Officers stated the probe pointed in direction of the involvement of a neighborhood resident recognized as Mohammed Ashfaq, who was questioned in 2023 and was let off after pleading innocence. He has since moved to Dubai.

What Did The SIT Discover?

The SIT checked Inner Protocol Element Data and the gadgets seized from Ashfaq’s possession and located that he was in touch with an affiliate, Mohd. Akram, in addition to Junaid, Aslam and Nadeem. The workforce later performed searches on the properties of those associates and located materials linked to the institution of a knowledge working centre for voter record manipulation in Kalaburagi.

The investigation reportedly discovered that the information centre, allegedly operated by Akram and Ashfaq, paid Rs 80 to knowledge entry operators per deletion, which implies round Rs 4.8 lakh was spent for six,018 deletions. The SIT additionally recovered a laptop computer used to make functions.

After the findings, the SIT performed searches on properties of BJP chief Subhash Guttedar – who misplaced from Aland in 2023 to Congress’ BR Patil – his sons Harshananda and Santhosh, and their chartered accountant affiliate Mallikarjun Mahantagol. Officers recovered greater than seven laptops together with cellphones.

The investigation reportedly revealed that 75 cell numbers — belonging to people starting from poultry farm staff to family of police personnel — had been used to register on the Election Fee portal to submit requests for modifications to the voter lists in Aland, reported The Indian Categorical.

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

The SIT is at present figuring out how the information centre operators gained entry to the EC portal credentials to make the voter deletion requests, which had been allegedly completed with out the data of the voters. Guttedar, a four-time MLA from Aland, has denied any hyperlinks to the voter deletions.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi alleged that somebody tried to delete 6,018 votes in Aland and obtained caught by coincidence. After his allegations, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka authorities constituted a particular probe workforce to probe irregularities.

He claimed that 6,018 functions had been filed impersonating voters and this submitting was completed mechanically utilizing cell numbers from outdoors Karnataka. Nonetheless, the Election Fee dismissed the allegations terming them “incorrect and baseless”, and burdened that votes can’t be deleted on-line.

Aveek Banerjee

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based mostly in Noida with a Grasp’s in International Research, Aveek has greater than three years of expertise in digital media and information curation, specialising in worldwide…Learn Extra

Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based mostly in Noida with a Grasp’s in International Research, Aveek has greater than three years of expertise in digital media and information curation, specialising in worldwide… Learn Extra

Learn Extra