Crime Branch expedites probe into alleged use of ECI voter ID cards to ‘rig’ Youth Congress election in 2023

The Crime Branch of the Kerala Police appears to have expedited its two-year-old investigation in a case concerning the allegedly widespread use of “bogus Election Commission of India (ECI) voter identity cards to rig” the 2023 online State Youth Congress election in “favour of the winning faction” led by Rahul Mamkootathil, MLA.

The somewhat sedate inquiry appeared to gather pace on Friday after the Crime Branch registered a “Zero First Information Report” to take cognisance of the accusations of sexually predatory behaviour, online stalking, and coercion to terminate pregnancy swirling around Mr. Mamkootathil.

On Friday, Crime Branch sleuths inspected the houses of a few Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Youth Congress workers in Adoor who were alleged to be Mr. Mamkootathil’s political lieutenants and an integral part of his campaign machinery in the organisational elections. So far, the Crime Branch has not named Mr. Mamkootathil as an accused in the case. However, it is reportedly poised to summon him for questioning.

Neither the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) nor the Youth Congress (YC) has responded to the police raids on their rank and file in Pathanamthitta.

DYFI complaint

The case has its provenance in a complaint lodged by the then Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) State secretary at the Museum police station here soon after the Youth Congress declared Mr. Mamkootathil as its elected president, following internal disputes within the Congress over the integrity of the organisational elections.

The DYFI also accused Mr. Mamkootathil’s predecessor Shafi Parambil, then Palakkad MLA, of stacking the odds in favour of his “protege”. Both leaders have since vehemently denied the charges and claimed to be victims of a Left Democratic Front (LDF) government-sponsored “political witch-hunt”.

‘Fake ECI cards’

An estimated 7.5 lakh persons participated in the elections. The Crime Branch case involved hitherto unidentified suspects using a mobile phone application, CR-Card, to electronically generate fake digital ECI cards, which were accepted as proof of voter ID by the Youth Congress in the organisational polls.

The charges in the FIR include use of fabricated digital signature, forgery and fraudulent use of a bogus document as a bona fide one to rig the Youth Congress election. Notably, the  Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Kerala termed the accusation grave, if true, and called for a report from the police. The CEO’s office also informed the ECI about the alleged voter ID fraud.