Karnataka SIR: FIRs filed in Belagavi, Bidar, Mysuru over alleged Form-7 voter deletion attempts

Mangalore Today News Network

Belagavi, Oct 2, 2026: An FIR has been registered against Karnataka BJP leader Ravi Patil and several others for allegedly attempting to have the names of 198 Muslim voters deleted from the electoral rolls in Belagavi district through Form-7 applications during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), police said on Friday.

At least three FIRs have now been registered in Karnataka in connection with alleged irregularities during the SIR exercise, including cases in Belagavi, Bidar and Mysuru.

The case against Patil was registered at the Belagavi Market police station following a complaint filed on September 30 by Meerasab Sanadi, who was working as a Booth Level Agent in Ward No. 12 of the Belagavi North Assembly constituency.

According to the FIR, Sanadi alleged that while assisting the Booth Level Officer (BLO) in the SIR exercise and verifying voter information, he noticed on September 22 at around 2.30 pm that Patil, Shankar Beerappa Naik, Prashant Deepak Mundinmani and 20-25 others had allegedly gathered with the intention of targeting voters belonging to the Muslim community.

The complainant alleged that the accused conspired to have the names of 198 voters deleted from the electoral roll and submitted fake documents to the BLO, claiming that they were genuine documents issued by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).

He further alleged that the Form-7 applications submitted with the purportedly fake documents included the names of him and his family members.

Form-7 is used to file objections to the proposed inclusion of a name or seek deletion of a name from an existing electoral roll.

The FIR stated that the accused allegedly pressured the BLO and arranged for another person to speak over the phone while claiming to be the ERO. The person allegedly obtained the BLO’s signature, thereby misleading the complainant and the voters.

The complainant also alleged that the accused intended to create a situation in which deletion of the names of the 198 Muslim voters could provoke affected persons and potentially lead to violence and disturbance of public order.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 336(4) (forgery intended to harm reputation), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 3(5) (common intention), 192 (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 190 (offence committed by a member of an unlawful assembly in prosecution of its common object) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Police said further investigation is underway.

Bidar case

In another case in Bidar, 40-year-old businessman and Bhalki voter Mohammed Ateeq Ahmed alleged that 3,244 voters, including himself, were falsely shown as "shifted/absent" through Form-7 applications during the SIR exercise.

According to the FIR, Ahmed alleged that the applications were submitted without obtaining authenticated documents from the affected voters and that their signatures were forged with the intention of getting their names removed from the electoral roll.

Following his complaint, an FIR was registered on October 1 naming 32 accused persons in connection with the alleged irregularities.

Mysuru case

In Mysuru, social worker Syed Hasarath Ulla lodged a complaint alleging that Form-7 applications were submitted during the SIR process claiming that he and his family members were not residing at their registered address, despite having lived there for several years.

He alleged that false information was entered in the forms and submitted to the Election Commission of India with the intention of getting his and his family members’ names deleted from the electoral roll.

He further alleged that similar Form-7 applications containing false information were submitted against 28 other voters.

Following the complaint, the Narasimharaja police registered a case against Harish Kumar C, Raghavendra M and Anil Thomas, identified as the BJP minority president, along with others.

The complaint alleges that the accused conspired to have the complainant’s, his family’s and other members of the Muslim community’s names deleted from the electoral roll during the SIR process, allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the community and creating disturbance in society.

The developments come amid a political dispute over alleged irregularities in the ongoing SIR exercise. Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, along with Cabinet colleagues and MLAs, staged a sit-in outside Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar’s office on Thursday, demanding an FIR over alleged "electoral fraud" during the revision process.