'Voters' list being scanned in Bengal to identify fake EPIC holders'

Kolkata, Dec 28 The office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer has decided to thoroughly scan and examine the voters' list in certain districts in West Bengal having international borders with neighbouring Bangladesh, with Intelligence input hinting that members of Bangladeshi fundamentalist groups have managed to get themselves enrolled in voters.

CEO office insiders said that the process had started with the bordering Murshidabad district, after it came to the notice that the recently arrested activist of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based fundamentalist group, Shad Radi a.k.a. Shab Sheikh, had managed to not only get his name enrolled as a voter in Murshidabad but at two places in two different Assembly constituencies in the district, namely Kandi and Hariharpara.

Sources said that the scanning and examination are being conducted to ensure whether there are similar instances in the district or not. In subsequent stages, similar scanning of the voters' list will be done for other districts in the state, especially those having international borders with Bangladesh.

Besides the instance in Murshidabad district, instances have also surfaced where the same EPIC number has been allotted to one voter of West Bengal and one voter of Gujarat.

Sources said that the CEO office is taking such matters very seriously since fake EPIC cards are the second layer in the chain of fake Indian documents being arranged for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

As information revealed by the investigation officials, the first stage in this chain is getting fake ration cards, which is immediately followed by fake EPIC cards. The third and fourth stages are fake PAN cards and Aadhaar cards. The final stage in the chain is that of fake passports.

“So in case if the chain can be broken at the second stage, which is a fake EPIC card, the next lines in the chain can be broken automatically. At the same time, the office of the CEO has directed their respective-level officials to be extremely careful in checking the documents in case of new EPIC card applicants," a source said.

Source: IANS