UP youth hacks EC website, makes thousands of bogus Voter ID cards

The accused allegedly said that he had done so to make quick money, he does not have any political affiliation or connection

A youth from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district hacked the Election Commission website and allegedly made thousands of bogus Voter ID cards.

According to the police sources in Lucknow on Friday, the youth, identified as Vipul Saini, a resident of Machharhedi village in the district, was nabbed after the cops raided his house on Thursday.

Saini, who was a graduate in computer applications, supplied the voter ID cards to one Arman Malik, a resident of Madhya Pradesh. ''Saini got Rs 100 to 200 for every Voter ID card,'' said a senior police official in Saharanpur. The police also found Rs 60 lakh in Saini's bank account.

Malik was also arrested on Friday and was being interrogated by the cops in Delhi, sources said.

Sources said that the EC officials, who were responsible for updating the voters' list, suspected some foul play recently and apprised the IT experts of the Commission about the same. It later turned out that someone had hacked their passwords. The trace led to Saini's computer.

''Saini has admitted to making ten thousand bogus Voter ID cards in the past three months.....he said that he had done so to make quick money...he does not have any political affiliation or connection,'' the official said.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav demanded a thorough investigation into the matter. ''It is a very serious issue....a thorough probe must be conducted to ascertain if it has state patronage....it concerns the dignity of the EC also,'' he tweeted.