Amid the ongoing political storm over the alleged voter data ‘theft’ in Bengaluru by a trust whose personnel impersonated civic officials, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner claimed that, so far, the civic body has not found evidence of data theft by the trust.
Following allegations of voter data ‘theft’, BBMP had cancelled permission granted to Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust to carry out the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign in Bengaluru.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said, “We had received complaints regarding impersonation of our officials by staff of the trust who were collecting voters’ data in September 2022. Based on the complaint, the nodal officer for SVEEP had given a show-cause notice to the trust. We found that the trust had impersonated our officials. On November 2, we cancelled the permission.
“We didn’t get any complaints against the trust on voter data theft and also, so far, we have not got any evidence of data theft. After media reports on data theft, we had to file a police complaint against the trust since we too have a doubt,” Mr. Giri Nath added.
Halasuru Gate police station, where the case was registered on November 18, broke open the offices of the trust in Malleswaram and seized electronic devices from the premises.
The allegation is that the trust had used an ID card to impersonate a BLO in Mahadevapura constituency and visited some houses to collect voters’ information. A complaint has been lodged against the trust by the BBMP at Halasuru Gate and Kadugodi police stations in Bengaluru.
