Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken stern action against AP police officials. (Photo: DC File)
Tirupati: Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken stern action against AP police officials for botching the probe into large-scale voter list fraud during the high-stakes Tirupati Lok Sabha by-election in 2021.
Based on directives of the ECI, Anantapur Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) R.N. Ammi Reddy has suspended four police officers investigating complaints of bogus voting and distribution of duplicate voter ID cards during the bitterly-fought by-poll.
The suspended officers are the then Tirupati East and West circle inspectors B.V. Siva Prasad Reddy and Siva Prasad, sub-inspector A. Jayaswamulu and head constable K. Dwarakanatha Reddy. They have been accused of gross negligence, dereliction of duty and carrying out perfunctory investigations into multiple cases registered regarding the alleged irregularities.
In the same case, Alipiri circle inspector Devendra Kumar has been transferred to the vacant reserve (VR).
The ECI crackdown comes after a public outcry and demands for a probe by opposition parties TD, Jana Sena, BJP and Left. These parties alleged that the ruling YSRC downloaded and printed over 34,000 bogus voter IDs and used them to vote and fraudulently win the by-poll.
Incidentally, Annamayya district collector P.S. Girisha and MEPMA official Chandramouliswara Reddy had previously been suspended by the ECI in the controversy. The commission has now turned the heat on the police officers involved in shoddy investigations aimed at covering up the issue despite availability of evidence like duplicate voter cards.
Further investigations into the high-profile case have been handed over to a new set of officers.
The suspended officers are the then Tirupati East and West circle inspectors B.V. Siva Prasad Reddy and Siva Prasad, sub-inspector A. Jayaswamulu and head constable K. Dwarakanatha Reddy. They have been accused of gross negligence, dereliction of duty and carrying out perfunctory investigations into multiple cases registered regarding the alleged irregularities.
In the same case, Alipiri circle inspector Devendra Kumar has been transferred to the vacant reserve (VR).
The ECI crackdown comes after a public outcry and demands for a probe by opposition parties TD, Jana Sena, BJP and Left. These parties alleged that the ruling YSRC downloaded and printed over 34,000 bogus voter IDs and used them to vote and fraudulently win the by-poll.
Incidentally, Annamayya district collector P.S. Girisha and MEPMA official Chandramouliswara Reddy had previously been suspended by the ECI in the controversy. The commission has now turned the heat on the police officers involved in shoddy investigations aimed at covering up the issue despite availability of evidence like duplicate voter cards.
Further investigations into the high-profile case have been handed over to a new set of officers.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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