Several foreign citizens held for allegedly voting in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry polls: Reports

About 25 foreign citizens had been detained or arrested for allegedly voting in the recent Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry using identity documents obtained allegedly fraudulently, The Hindu reported.

While most of those detained were found to have voted in Chennai, two foreign citizens allegedly did so in Puducherry.

Under Election Commission rules, overseas electors must remain Indian citizens and must not have acquired citizenship of another country. Non-Resident Indians are allowed to register as voters under the Representation of the People Act but are required to produce an original Indian passport at polling stations.

The foreign passport holders were stopped by the immigration authorities at airports in Chennai and Madurai after officials saw marks of indelible ink on their fingers during departure checks.

The operation to crackdown had begun last week, The Hindu reported.

Cases have been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Representation of the People Act and other laws.

Chennai Additional Police Commissioner A Radhika told The Times of India that first information reports were filed based on complaints from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in Chennai.

The persons accused in the matter have been released on bail, The Times of India quoted the police as saying.

Investigators were quoted as saying that most of the persons who had been detained were Sri Lankan citizens. The others were British, Canadian and Indonesian...

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