A total of 343 voter identity cards were found abandoned on the banks of the Narmada river in Mandleshwar town of Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district on Sunday, prompting the opposition Congress to demand registration of an FIR and an impartial investigation.
According to preliminary information, the recovered cards belong to voters registered in the Rau Assembly constituency in neighbouring Indore district.
The cards were discovered by local residents during a cleanliness drive along the riverbank. The residents collected the documents and informed the district administration.
A video showing the recovered voter identity cards subsequently circulated widely on social media, drawing attention to the incident.
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District Congress president Ravi Naik, accompanied by party workers, approached Mandleshwar police station and submitted a complaint seeking registration of an FIR.
Naik questioned the functioning of the Election Commission and demanded action against those responsible for abandoning the voter identity cards.
The Congress also sought a search operation involving divers in the Narmada river to determine whether more voter identity cards had been discarded in the water.
"The Congress will gherao the police station if an FIR is not registered," Naik warned.
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Mandleshwar Sub-Divisional Officer of Police Shweta Shukla confirmed that the cards had been recovered during the cleanliness drive along the Narmada riverbank.
She said the revenue department team had seized the documents and the police station in-charge had been directed to investigate the matter.
Shukla also confirmed that police had received a complaint from the Congress.
The circumstances in which the voter identity cards reached the riverbank remain unclear. Investigators are expected to examine their origin and determine who was responsible for abandoning them.