Youth Congress election fraud: Fake ID card of Tamil actor Ajith recovered; more leaders under scanner

Thiruvananthapuram: The probe into the alleged malpractice in the Youth Congress election has uncovered a serious offence of fake voter ID production in the state. The fraudsters even made fake ID cards of Tamil actor Ajith, claimed police.

The probe team has recovered the actor's fake ID card from the phone of Youth Congress activist Abhi Vikram who was arrested on Wednesday. Apart from Abhi Vikram, three others- Feny, Binil Binu and Vikas Krishna were also arrested from Pathanamthitta following a raid at their residences. A total of 24 fake ID cards were recovered during the raid.

According to police, Adoor native Vikas Krishna had made these fake ID cards by accepting Rs 1000 from others. In the statement given to police, Vikas confessed that the other three accused in the case had given photos and addresses for the fake ID cards. He took 20 days to make these cards, said a police official. 

The probe team clarified that evidence against the accused will be produced before the court on Thursday morning. Police have decided to launch a detailed investigation to confirm the involvement of Youth Congress leaders in this malpractice. According to reports, the probe team is likely to summon Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkoottathil for an interrogation on Saturday.

While addressing the media here on Wednesday, Rahul welcomed probe into the case and declared that no Youth Congress activist will hide anywhere fearing charges. He asserted that Youth Congress would disown the accused in police custody if they were found guilty.

The Case

The allegations of using fake voter ID cards had cropped up two days after the Youth Congress announced Rahul Mankoottathil as winner of the organisational polls.

A case was registered in the matter on the direction of the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, who had received complaints that fake voter ID cards were used during the Youth Congress organisational polls. An eight-member special investigation team was constituted to probe the case.

An FIR has been registered in the matter under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document).

Earlier, the police had said that a mobile app was used for creating the fake IDs and its developer were being probed.

Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay M Kaul had on November 17 forwarded the complaints his office received to the state police chief, urging appropriate action against the culprits involved in the fraud. But the Youth Congress had denied the allegations.

BJP state president K Surendran had accused a faction of the Congress in Kerala of creating fake voter ID cards and warned of its serious implications, suggesting potential misuse in general elections and for acquiring SIM cards. He blamed a Congress MLA for the creation of an application for creating fake IDs and claimed that top Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal and V D Satheesan, were aware of it.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan had said it was a serious matter and called for an urgent and comprehensive investigation. The Left party had approached the Election Commission, expressing concern that the use of fake voter ID cards could pose a significant threat to democracy.

(With PTI inputs)