GP polls: Plaint over fake order

The High Grounds police have registered an FIR against miscreants who forged a government notification in connection with the gram panchayat elections in the state, and circulated it on social media.

Ranjitha M P, undersecretary, Karnataka State Election Commission (KSEC), in the complaint stated that a fake order stating that elections for the gram panchayat are scheduled between April 5 and 9 this year was circulated.

It had all the contents of real order. It set the rules for voters and contestants and carried the purported signature of the undersecretary, the officer said.

The police charged unknown persons under Sections 464 (a false document has to be made with dishonest and fraudulent intention), 471 (using as genuine a forged) and 484 (counterfeiting a mark used by a public servant) of the IPC, and various sections of Information Technology Act.

Ranjitha stated that the KSEC has not issued any such notifications. “The state notification has been dated on October 21, 2019. But, in the portion of order copy, the date has been mentioned as January 9, 2020. It clearly indicates that it was manipulated to create a fake one.”