6 held in two cases of voter card fraud in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh

New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) Six persons were arrested in two separate cases in connection with voter ID fraud in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, police said.

According to the police, on December 25, they received a complaint from Vinod Kumar, Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) from Okhla, alleging that four individuals applied for voter ID cards or changes of address using forged documents. A case was registered on December 26 in connection with this case against the four accused under Section 336 (Forgery for the purpose of cheating) and Section 340 (Using forged documents as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at the Shaheen Bagh police station.

On December 29, another complaint was received from Kumar with similar allegations that four applications for the new voter registration had been received in the office of Electoral Registration using the forged documents following which a case was registered under Section 336/340 of the BNS.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast Delhi), Ravi Kumar Singh, said during the investigation, the addresses of the alleged persons were traced, and the following six people were arrested in both cases.

The accused were identified as Mohammad Naim (32), Rizwan Ul Haq (30), Sabana Khatoon (37), Rajat Srivastava (27), Sachin Kumar (27), and Trilok Chand (51).

All the six accused were found to have forged documents such as Aadhaar cards and electricity bills to create or modify voter ID cards.

During the investigation, a police team actively investigated the cases to identify and apprehend the individuals involved in the voter ID fraud. After thorough efforts by the police, the addresses of the alleged accused persons were traced and following this six persons were arrested in both cases.

Efforts are being made to identify and apprehend other individuals involved in the forgery network, the Delhi Police said in a statement.

Evidence collected so far indicates a systematic misuse of technology and forged documents to manipulate the electoral registration process, the Delhi Police added.

A personal computer was seized by the Delhi Police during the investigation which was used in making the forged documents

Mohammad Naim, who is a resident of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, had applied for a change of address in his voter ID using a forged electricity bill. He is an electrician by profession.

Rizwan Ul Haq, who is a resident of Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, forged the electricity bill for Mohammad Naim using Photoshop. He is the owner of a cyber cafe in Shaheen Bagh

Sabana Khatoon, who is a resident of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, had applied for a change of address using a forged electricity bill. She is a housewife.

Rajat Srivastava, who is a resident of Haryana’s Faridabad, is a cyber cafe operator in Delhi’s Jasola area. He used an online PDF editing tool to forge electricity bills for multiple individuals and is found involved in both the above cases registered at Shaheen Bagh police station, including in a related case.

Sachin Kumar, who is a resident of Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, works in the housekeeping department at a hospital in the city. He had contacted Trilok Chand to prepare documents for his deaf and mute uncle, Kisunee. His alleged motive was to transfer land from his uncle’s name.

Trilok Chand, who is a resident of Chirag Dilli, is a private tuition teacher. He allegedly collaborated with Rajat Srivastava to create forged documents and has been known to the alleged Kisunee for four to five years.

–IANS

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