The New Indian Express ·
Jharkhand SIR: Three Afghan nationals found on Jamshedpur voter rolls, probe ordered
JAMSHEDPUR: In a shocking revelation during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Jamshedpur, the names of three Afghan nationals were found on the voter list. Verification confirmed that the three individuals are Afghan citizens whose names had been included in the electoral roll.
According to Sub-Divisional Officer Arnab Mishra, discrepancies were found in the documents of three individuals, Asil Khan, Mohammad Aslam and Mohammad Ibrahim, during verification of the voter list for the Jamshedpur East Assembly constituency. Subsequently, the District Election Officer issued notices to them.
When they failed to submit the required documents in response to the notices, their passports were examined, confirming that they are Afghan citizens.
The three names were listed at serial numbers 30, 31 and 33 for polling station number 286 in the Jamshedpur East Assembly constituency.
The three individuals had completed the voter revision process, and their names were included in the draft electoral roll. However, the matter came to light during document verification. Legal action will be taken against them if they are found guilty.
The Election Commission is now investigating how the names of the foreign nationals came to be included in the voter list and who assisted them in the process.
A large-scale investigation is also being planned amid concerns that other foreign nationals may have been included in the state's electoral rolls. Officials said such cases would be identified and strict action would be taken in accordance with the rules.
Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said a probe committee has been formed to ascertain how the names of the three individuals were included in the draft electoral roll of the Jamshedpur East Assembly constituency.
“A verification process is underway across the state under SIR. In the course of verifying enumeration forms received, three cases came to light where three suspected Afghan nationals registered their names. We are examining how their names appeared on the rolls in the first place and the nature of the fraudulent documents they originally submitted,” said Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar.
The Election Commission published Jharkhand's draft electoral rolls on August 5 after deleting more than 43.61 lakh names from the voter list.
The state had 2.64 crore electors before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which was conducted from June 30 to July 29. The draft roll now has 2.21 crore voters, 1.12 crore men, 1.08 crore women and 260 third-gender electors.
The EC has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections to September 15 and deferred publication of the final revised rolls to October 19. Earlier, the deadline was September 4, with the final rolls scheduled to be published on October 7.