Karnataka Minister Patil seeks EC probe into 'vote chori' allegations in Aland
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Friday said the Election Commission of India should take responsibility and order an inquiry into the alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) after a SIT found that attempts were made to delete over 6,000 votes en masse in the Aland Assembly segment ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
Patil, who holds the industries and infrastructure portfolio, said everything that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had been saying all along has now come true.
"Now the truth has come out. This is what Rahul Gandhi has been saying all along—how the BJP came to power, its sins and illegalities. The Election Commission of India had been demanding proof. Now we have it," Patil told reporters here.
Citing reports, he said Rs 75 to Rs 80 was paid per deleted voter name in the Aland Assembly constituency in the state.
"We are talking only about Aland. This can be done across India. The EC should take responsibility and inquire into it. The BJP should answer now," he said.
The minister accused the BJP and the EC of dismissing earlier warnings. "Rahul is the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He is like a shadow PM. You were asking him to file an affidavit instead of investigating. Now it is proved. Let us see what the EC and the BJP have to say on this," Patil added.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged voter data manipulation in Aland found that attempts were made to delete thousands of names from the rolls and identified at least six suspects involved.
Sources in the Criminal Investigation Department said the suspects were paid Rs 80 for every successfully deleted name. Requests were made to remove 6,994 names, most of which were found to be bogus.
Aland, located in Kalaburagi district—home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge—is represented by senior Congress MLA B R Patil.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi cited the Aland case at a press conference in New Delhi while alleging large-scale voter data manipulation across the country.
BR Patil has said he would have lost the election had the names been deleted. He won the 2023 Assembly polls from Aland by a margin of about 10,000 votes against the BJP's Subhash Guttedar.
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NCB busts secret drug lab in Karnataka's Mysuru; four held
New Delhi (PTI): The Narcotics Control Bureau has busted a secret drug manufacturing laboratory in Karnataka's Mysuru and arrested four people from Rajasthan after seizing narcotics worth Rs 10 crore, the agency said on Friday.
This crackdown began on January 28 in Gujarat's Surat, where federal officials intercepted a SUV in the Palsana area. The vehicle was found carrying about 35 kg of Mephedrone.
Followingthe seizure, the Narcotcis Control Bureau (NCB) arrested the alleged mastermind of this trafficking racket named Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi and three others. All four suspects are residents of Rajasthan's Jalore district.
The investigation led to officials to a "clandestine" drugs manufacturing laboratory located in Hebbal industrial area of Mysuru.
The laboratory was being operated under the guise of a chemical manufacturing unit for cleaning purposes. The facility had been rented by a co-accused and relative of Vishnoi, the NCB said in a statement.
"Drugs worth Rs 10 crore (market value), Rs 25.6 lakh in cash, an SUV and 500 kgs of chemicals used in the manufacturing of drugs have been seized during the operation," it said, adding that the lab is understood to be established in 2024.
According to the NCB, Vishnoi is a "habitual offender" who "conceived" the idea of manufacturing synthetic drugs in secret labs while he was incarcerated in a drugs trafficking case. He has three drug-related cases registered against him in Rajasthan and one in Gujarat, the NCB added.
