Voter data theft case: 4 NGO staffers arrested, BBMP officer suspended

BENGALURU: A day afer a controversy erupted over alleged leakage of voter data, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has placed its Mahadevapura zone revenue officer Chandrashekar under suspension from immediate effect.

Palike Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said instructions have been issued to Special Commissioner Rangappa to issue suspension orders holding Chandrashekar responsible for the voter data leak.

After an FIR was registered at Halasur Gate police station, business head Sudhakar Naik and other employees, Rakshit, Renuka Prasad and Dharmesh were taken into custody on Friday. The police also conducted raids on Chilume’s offices at four locations at Malleswaram, Basavanagudi, Mahadevapura and Chickpet in the city.

While the BBMP claimed that the voter data was misused only in Mahadevapura zone, it has been the case in all the eight zones. The BBMP had given permission to an NGO, Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Institute, to conduct a voter awareness drive ahead of the revision of electoral rolls for the Karnataka Assembly polls, in all the 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru.

The NGO had set up four offices in the city in Mahadevapura, Malleswaram, Chickpet and Basavanagudi and had employed youths to elicit information about the number of voters in a household, the number of new voters, etc.

On November 13, Chilume vacated its office space in Basavanagudi, which it had taken on rent from Acarmaxs, a software company after signing an agreement for three months. On November 3, Chilume had been served a notice from BBMP. Employees of Acarmaxs said the office space was taken citing voter ID work, for three months, but Chilume vacated in just two months.

Voter information was allegedly leaked by the NGO.

A report submitted by BBMP Special Commissioner Rangappa revealed that Chilume had been undertaken Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaigns between 2018 and 2021 and was tasked with creating voter awareness and electoral roll revision in 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru using the Garuda app for which permission had been given to hire Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

The NGO was also mandated not to have any connection with any political party, individual, receive donations, work for a political figure, not to undertake field work without BLOs and that legal would be taken in case the terms were not met.

The report further revealed that the NGO hired 25 rural youths for field work, gave them ID cards and asked them to collect voter information for Rs 25 each, but did not pay them. It has also been accused of collecting personal information.

The NGO has been accused of providing ID cards without permission and flouting norms. Also, the field staff are now missing. Hence, on November 10, the agreement with the NGO was cancelled.