Daijiworld Media Network – Kalaburagi
Kalaburagi, Oct 24: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sensational “voter theft” scandal in Aland Assembly constituency has unearthed a large-scale operation to strike off thousands of genuine voters from the rolls ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.
Investigators have revealed that each voter deletion was allegedly carried out for a mere Rs 80 per name, with applications filed to remove 6,994 voters in total. Of these, only a handful were legitimate cases — such as duplicates or deceased persons — while nearly 6,000 were genuine registered voters, predominantly Dalits, minorities and Congress supporters, according to senior CID sources.
At least six prime suspects connected to a Kalaburagi data centre have been identified. The accused reportedly used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems to remotely access and manipulate electoral data.
The SIT believes that the suspects paid around Rs 3–4 lac to facilitate the illegal operation. One of those implicated, a data-entry operator allegedly working for Harshanand S. Guttedar, son of former BJP MLA Subhash Guttedar, was said to have been instructed to delete around 6,000 voter names.
Investigators say that only a few deletions were valid, with the overwhelming majority being legitimate voters unlawfully removed from the rolls.
In a dramatic turn, SIT officers raided premises linked to Subhash Guttedar, his sons Harshanand and Santosh, and their chartered accountant. During the operation, officials discovered burnt bundles of voter records near the Guttedar residence.
The former MLA, however, dismissed any wrongdoing, claiming the documents were “accidentally burned during Diwali cleaning by domestic staff” and insisting there was “no malicious intent” behind it.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge lashed out at the alleged voter manipulation, saying, “In Aland, voter names were deleted for just Rs 80 each. More than 6,000 genuine voters were removed through a paid operation before the election. This is nothing short of a direct assault on democracy.”
The Congress party has alleged that the deletions could have altered the election outcome, calling the incident “a systematic attempt to subvert democratic processes.” The party has demanded strict action once the SIT’s final report is made public.
Former MLA Subhash Guttedar, meanwhile, maintained that he and his family were being unfairly targeted, reiterating that “the burnt records had nothing to do with voter lists.”