Kerala: Three Youth Cong workers in police custody in fake voter ID case

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Police on Tuesday took into custody three Youth Congress workers in connection with the alleged use of fake voter ID cards during the recent organisational polls.

Laptops, mobile phones and fake election photo identification cards were also seized from them, the police said.

The allegations of using fake voter ID cards had cropped up two days after the Youth Congress announced the result of its organisational poll. Youth Congress leader Rahul Mankoottathil was elected president of the state organisation in the polls held a few weeks ago.

A case was registered in the matter on the direction of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, who had received complaints that fake voter ID cards were used during the Youth Congress organisational polls. An eight-member special investigation team was constituted to probe the case.

The three Youth Congress workers taken into police custody have been identified as Abhi Vikram, Feny and Binil Binu, a police official said.

An FIR has been registered in the matter under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document).

Earlier, the police had said that the mobile application allegedly used for creating the fake IDs and its developer were being probed.

Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay M Kaul had on November 17 forwarded the complaints his office received to the state police chief, urging appropriate action against the culprits involved in the fraud.

The Youth Congress had denied the allegations.

BJP state president K Surendran had accused a faction of the Congress in Kerala of creating fake voter ID cards and warned of its serious implications, suggesting potential misuse in general elections and for acquiring SIM cards.

He blamed a Congress MLA for the creation of an application for creating fake IDs and claimed that top Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal and V D Satheesan, were aware of it.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan had said it was a serious matter and called for an urgent and comprehensive investigation. The Left party had approached the Election Commission, expressing concern that the use of fake voter ID cards could pose a significant threat to democracy.