Voter data theft allegation leads to arrest of NGO founder

Bengaluru: The alleged voter data theft case has led to the arrest of the co-founder of Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Institute who is the main accused. The police have also lodged a case against Chilume Trust and one of its employees in connection with the case.

As per the allegation on Chilume Trust, it was collecting personal data of voters including native language, caste, religion, occupation, and even political inclinations. The Trust was given the mandate of spreading voting awareness. This raised an alarm in the state and the Congress has raked up the issue.

The police have arrested Krishnappa Ravikumar, the co-founder of Chilume Trust on Monday this week. This move could lead to getting more answers on the allegation against this NGO.

According to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President D K Shivakumar, the party is keeping a close watch on the investigations in this matter. He even claimed that he wanted an appointment with the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Rajiv Kumar to acknowledge him about the alleged scam.

The Congress had earlier claimed that names of few backward communities and minorities were erased from the voters' list. Responding to this, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena said that this allegation is untrue.

He mentioned that the revised list of the electoral roll will not be including names of deceased voters and those who have shifted away from the constituencies. In the case of duplicate entries under the electoral roll, Manoj Kumar said that there are possibilities of the existence of multiple names of same people and that it will be sieved through by software verification.

In the meanwhile, it is alleged that Chilume Trust was planning to collect such data prior to even receiving permission from the city's municipal corporation, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). More details from the investigation are awaited.