'Vote chori' charge sheet: ex-BJP MLA Guttedar named in 5,994-voter deletion racket, gets anticipatory bail

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team probing alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) in Karnataka's Aland Assembly segment has filed a charge sheet naming seven persons, including a former BJP MLA, his son and his close aide, in connection with alleged efforts to remove the names of 5,994 voters during the 2023 Assembly elections, PTI reported. The charge sheet, filed before the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Bengaluru, runs to more than 22,000 pages and details the modus operandi allegedly used to delete the voters' names, according to CID sources. Those named are Subhash Guttedar, a four-time former MLA from Aland, his son Harshanand Guttedar, his personal secretary Tipperudra, three Kalaburagi-based data centre operators, Akram Pasha, Mukaram Pasha and Mohammed Ashfaq, and Bapi Adya from West Bengal. Adya was the first person arrested in the case. He allegedly operated a website, OTPbazaar, linked to a US-based platform to provide an "OTP bypass" facility. He was later released on bail. A special court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to Guttedar, his son and Tipperudra, sources said. On Saturday, Harshanand rubbished the charges against him, saying he and his father had been framed in a false case. The development lands amid a wider political storm in Karnataka over the alleged misuse of Form 7, the application used to seek deletion of names from electoral rolls, during the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the rolls. Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukkumar has directed officials to initiate legal action against those who knowingly submit false claims or objections, under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, preceded by an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has alleged large-scale fraudulent deletion attempts through Form 7 and staged a protest outside the CEO's office; the CEO's office has since ordered criminal action on false filings. The BJP has rejected the allegations, maintaining that filing Form 7 objections is a legitimate part of the electoral-roll process. Its state president B.Y. Vijayendra has demanded the withdrawal of cases against party workers and warned of a statewide agitation, and a BJP delegation including former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa met the DGP-IGP over the issue. Separately, an FIR was registered at the Belagavi Market police station against BJP leader Ravi Patil and others for allegedly attempting to delete the names of 198 Muslim voters using forged Form-7 applications during the SIR. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar said the campaign against "vote chori" had started from Freedom Park, with a protest rally organised at Delhi's Ram Leela Maidan on Sunday drawing thousands. The numbers tell the story the denials cannot: 5,994 names targeted in one Assembly segment, a 22,000-page charge sheet, and anticipatory bail for the accused before the trial even begins.