The kingpin of the Karnataka voter data fraud, Ravikumar Krishnappa, who is now in police custody, had a serious run-in with the law in 2017 in a similar case of illegal voter data collection. Ravikumar had been booked after he was caught by residents in north Bengaluru’s Byatarayanapura Assembly constituency when illegally gathering voter data. Not just him, but several others who worked with him in Chilume Trust were also booked. The modus operandi was the same: use fake government identity cards, carry out a door-to-door survey, and gather personal information of voters. They were also using a fake Government Order (GO) to help them obtain the data. TNM has accessed the First Information Report (FIR), which reveals details of how the survey was done. But in this case, the police filed a cancellation report a few months after they were booked.
According to documents with TNM, in April 2017 a group of people were reportedly carrying out a ‘survey’ in some areas under Byatarayanapura constituency. For weeks, the accused were carrying a GO and collecting personal details of voters, including mobile and Aadhar card numbers. The GO was not authorised by the local body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), under whose jurisdiction voter data collection falls. When one of the villagers questioned the survey workers and scrutinised their documents, it came to light that they had no authority to collect the details. Two sets of police complaints were filed and the five people were handed over to the Chikkajala Police.
The first complaint was on April 8, 2017 by two persons – Krishne Gowda and Ravindra Gowda – who were members of the Congress party. The complaint copy says that it was filed on behalf of villagers from Bettahalasuru and villages surrounding it. “For over eight days, unauthorised persons have been collecting personal information of voters, including mobile numbers. This is being done with no government order and using a fake BBMP form 6. They are also taking photographs and mobile numbers of women which can be misused,” the complaint summary reads.
The second complaint was filed five days later, on April 13, 2017 by government officials on behalf of the BBMP. The Revenue Inspector of Doddajala said in his complaint, “They have been carrying an unauthorised order to go door-to-door and gather mobile numbers, Aadhar details, and other personal details of voters.”
Apart from this, on July 12, 2017, former secretary to the Government of India in the Cabinet Secretariat, Dr Renuka Viswanathan, wrote to the BBMP complaining that private persons have been appointed as Booth Level Officers (BLO) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AERO) across Mahadevapura constituency. Her email also states that these private persons claim to be working for NGOs but work with politicians as their agents and are, as a result, politically motivated. She also states that these persons have been gathering information, including mobile numbers of residents, and sought actions against them and the officials responsible.
On March 19, 2018, the police filed a B-report and closed the case. A B-report is a cancellation report filed by the police where the probe does not find any evidence. The report was allegedly filed after the complainants did not respond to the queries of the investigating police. While Ravikumar’s name does not appear in the FIR, the B-report names him along with several others.
According to the B-report, the accused, including Ravikumar, were carrying BLO cards when conducting the survey. It mentions that upon inquiry, BBMP officials confirmed that the accused were not sent on BBMP’s behalf for voter data collection. The cards were reportedly for the Mahadevapura constituency and the police asked the BBMP officials there to submit a report. In the report, the BBMP officials confirmed that Ravikumar, Thimmaraju (A1), Someshwar (A4), Rangaswamy, Govindaraju (A3), and Nagesh were given BLO cards and had been working with them on data collection for several years. The report also mentions that the accused have been working with the BBMP to conduct several other surveys, including economic and caste surveys. The B-report was filed primarily based on this reply by the BBMP.
Interestingly, according to Section 13B (2) of the Representation of People Act, 1950, only officers working for the government or semi-government bodies can be appointed as BLOs. While none of the accused are government employees, the question of how they were issued BLO cards remains unanswered.
Further, the B-report adds that the accused had strayed from the Mahadevapura constituency, got confused about their jurisdiction, and ventured into villages in the Byatarayanapura constituency where they were caught by villagers.
The Congress’ Krishna Byre Gowda, who is also the legislator from Byatarayanapura, questions this claim. “The distance between Mahadevapura and the location where the accused were found is at least 10 km. How can they get confused and go so far?” he asks. He also asks how the accused were issued BLO cards when they were not government servants.
Demanding action against the officer(s) who issued both the BLO cards as well as the GO to private citizens, Krishna Byre Gowda says it is a clear violation. Irrespective of who was in power at the time, action should be taken against erring BBMP officials, he adds.
Former employees of Chilume say that two of the accused were previously associated with Ravikumar Krishnappa. Accused number 1 in the case, Thimmaraju, was reportedly Ravikumar’s childhood friend and classmate in college, and was reportedly working as Ravikumar’s personal assistant when this incident took place. Another accused in the case, Somashekhar, is also reportedly a close aise of Ravikumar, and the two also hail from the same village, the former employee said.
After the Congress accused the ruling BJP of trying to tamper with the electoral process using Chilume Trust, the BJP had hit back. The BJP alleged that a similar GO had been issued to Chilume Trust in 2017, during which time the Congress was in power in the state.