Two held for 'forging' voter ID cards ahead of Delhi polls

"In a case of voter registration fraud, two individuals have been arrested for allegedly attempting to secure a voter ID card using forged documents," Delhi police said.

The arrests followed a complaint filed by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Assembly Constituency-09 (Kirari) on December 30, 2024.

The complaint, submitted to the Prem Nagar Police Station, highlighted that five individuals had applied for new voter IDs using documents that appeared to be forged. Following the complaint, an FIR was registered under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Sections 336(3) and 340(2) of the BNS Act, police said.

A special investigative team was formed to probe the case. "During the investigation, the applications and supporting documents were thoroughly verified. While the documents of three applicants were found to be genuine, irregularities were identified in the application of Juber, a resident of Ramesh Enclave, Delhi".

"It was discovered that the residential address on Juber's Aadhaar card had been tampered with, though the Aadhaar number itself was verified as genuine. Juber had handed over his original Aadhaar card to Nadeem, the owner of Ansari Jan Sewa Kendra in Mangol Puri, Delhi. Nadeem allegedly altered the address on the Aadhaar card and submitted it for voter registration on Juber's behalf," police said.

Based on the evidence, both Juber and Nadeem (30) were arrested. Nadeem runs a service centre that assists individuals with online applications for various documents, including voter IDs and Aadhaar cards. Juber, 35, is a cab driver and reportedly applied for a Delhi voter ID to benefit from local government schemes, as per police.

Authorities have seized the hard disk of Nadeem's service centre as part of the investigation. "Efforts are ongoing to identify other individuals or networks that may be involved in similar fraudulent activities." (ANI)