Same pic, different names: SP ex-MLA booked for ‘voter ID fraud’

Bareilly: An FIR has been filed against former SP MLA from Moradabad's Kundarki, Haji Rizwan, and members of his family for allegedly preparing duplicate voter IDs of several people, "by using different names for the same picture of a voter". The action against him was taken following a complaint by a senior functionary of BJP's ‘minority morcha', Mohd Shamshad.SHO (Kundarki) Pradeep Sehrawat said on Thursday, "An FIR under sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 171 (influence at an election) of BNS along with relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act was registered against Haji Rizwan on Wednesday evening. An investigation is on, and we'll send a notice to the accused for questioning."In his complaint, Shamshad alleged that people with duplicate names on the voters' list had recently protested at the collectorate. They were led by Rizwan. Shamshad also said they are threatening the booth level officer (BLO) not to reveal the truth.Refuting the allegations, Rizwan said, "For over seven years, BJP govt has been in power in UP, and several Lok Sabha and assembly elections were held. Before every election, a voter list revision programme is carried out by govt. We had raised that my father is marked as a ‘deceased', and his name was removed. Additionally, names of some family members were removed, and two unmarried nieces were shown as married.""A memorandum was submitted to the DM for an investigation into the matter. There has been no conversation with any BLO. All such accusations are completely baseless. Truth will come out in the investigation," said Rizwan.Notably, the allegations against the ex-MLA surfaced ahead of the upcoming Kundarki (Moradabad) assembly bypoll.
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