SIT Discovers Burnt Voter Records Near Ex-BJP MLA's Home During Karnataka Electoral Fraud Investigation

Kalaburagi:

Investigators discovered piles of burned voter documents near former BJP MLA Subhash Guttedar's residence on Saturday as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) deepened its investigation into alleged 'vote theft' in the Aland assembly constituency during the 2023 elections.

When questioned about the discovery, Guttedar dismissed any suspicious activity, attributing the incident to household staff. "This was simply part of our pre-festival cleaning efforts. Our staff disposed of these materials outside and set them on fire. If we had malicious intentions, we would have burned them far from our property. Why would anyone do such a thing in front of their own house? There were no hidden motives involved," he explained to reporters today.

According to sources, the SIT conducted raids on Friday at multiple locations connected to Guttedar, his sons, and a chartered accountant.

The investigation was initiated following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of widespread 'vote theft,' specifically citing the Aland constituency during Karnataka's 2023 assembly elections as evidence.

Congress has claimed that fraudulent phone calls were made impersonating legitimate voters to remove "Congress voters" from electoral rolls.

Party representatives asserted that timely detection of this fraud ensured their candidate B R Patil's victory and contributed to the defeat of BJP candidate Subhash Guttedar.