Lucknow: After an FIR was lodged against two electoral registration officers (EROs) and a computer operator for allegedly manipulating 10,470 voter records in Pilibhit after the final electoral roll was published on April 10 following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa told TOI that “it was not a case of error or negligence but it was a crime done deliberately”.
The FIR, lodged at Kotwali police station on Oct 22, names Mayank Goswami, then SDM Amaria and ERO; Hemant Kumar , then SDM and ERO; and Anil Kumar, computer assistant (VRC operator). They have been booked under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Section 201 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
13,779 Form-8 applications were filed between May 31 and Aug 29, 2026, months after the April 10 SIR final roll, according to the FIR lodged by assistant district election officer Krishna Kumar Kashyap. Of these, 10,470 were approved and 3,309 rejected. Of these, 4,717 forms were filed until July 16, while another 9,062 were submitted between July 17 and Aug 29. Crucially, no supporting Form-8 applications or related records were found in the election office for any of the 13,779 entries. All 10,470 approved entries were found irregular. The operator entered Form-8 applications without receiving them from voters, and the EROs approved them. Explaining the authentication process, Rinwa said the operator enters Form-8 applications using his credentials, authenticated through an OTP sent to his registered mobile number. How can more than 10,000 such forms be approved without scrutiny? He said Goswami was responsible for approvals between May 31 and July 16, while Hemant Kumar held responsibility from July 17 to Aug 29. Rinwa said Section 32 provides for imprisonment of up to two years, a fine, or both, for electoral officials guilty of acts or omissions without reasonable cause. “My name and my family members’ details were correct in the April 10 final SIR list. When I compared subsequent electoral records, I found 142 altered voter entries among 1,037 voters at my polling booth,” Khan told TOI.
This was a deliberate criminal act, not a clerical mistake,” Rinwa said. The computer operator is being removed from service, while departmental disciplinary proceedings are being initiated against both SDMs, separately from the criminal proceedings before the court,” he said. Nobody expected their identities to be changed afterwards without their knowledge,” he said.
Significantly, no supporting application forms or documents for any of these entries were found in official records. “There was no hacking, no system glitch and no technical malfunction. Those entrusted with maintaining the electoral rolls failed to discharge their responsibilities. The ERO subsequently approves or rejects applications through a separate login, password and OTP authentication. “You cannot simply claim that somebody stole your password. An OTP also goes to your registered phone. Either you authenticate the transaction yourself or share the OTP with somebody. What were the EROs doing? Rinwa questioned. “We have initiated the strictest possible legal action. “People had verified their names during SIR.
The CEO said the investigation was being expanded beyond Form-8 corrections. “We have sought an examination of all Form-6 applications entered by this operator for inclusion of voters and all Form-7 applications for deletion of names. Advocate Faizan Ali Khan, among the first complainants, said he discovered the manipulation on Oct 12 when another person’s name appeared against his EPIC number.
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We have also ordered similar scrutiny in Pilibhit’s remaining three assembly constituencies,” Rinwa said. “We have directed district magistrates across Uttar Pradesh to examine whether similar manipulation has occurred in their assembly constituencies and submit reports within two days,” he added. The election department has ordered correction of the affected records and a separate investigation into the role of assistant electoral registration officers. Download the TOI App.