Karnataka elections: Voter ID cards collected as collateral security in exchange for cash

The investigations being conducted into the voter ID scam in Karnataka has revealed that the the cards were collected from the voters as collateral security. It was meant to help a particular political party, the police said.

The police had seized 9,746 voter IDs from a flat in Jalahalli in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar Assembly constituency on Tuesday. The Election Commission of India too is probing the matter and has sent a special observer to overlook the same.

Following the seizure, the police began tracing the card holders. As per the accounts given by some of them, it was revealed that the cards were taken as collateral security in exchange for cash distributed by the political party. The involvement of any particular political party is yet to be ascertained by the police.

The probe also revealed that the cards were stacked up in bundles. Each bundle had the name of a person who was tasked with getting in touch with the voter, paying him the money to vote for a particular party. The bundles also had the name and number of the particular person, the police also said.

The police have been questioning several persons in connection with the case. The police is also looking into the counterfoils which resemble acknowledgement slips of Form-6 which is used to add names to the voter's list.

Meanwhile two persons have been arrested in connection with the case. Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, Sanjeev Kumar while confirming this development also did not rule out the possibility of more arrests.

"This is a very serious matter. Two people have been arrested as of now. There is a possibility of more arrests. The case is currently being investigated," Kumar said while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru.