New Delhi: A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against two administrative officials and a computer operator in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit on Thursday (October 22), following an Election Commission probe that uncovered glaring discrepancies in the voter roll of a constituency. Searching the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers of certain voters online displayed the details of other individuals, the probe has found.The punitive action was taken after a detailed investigation report submitted by the District Election Officer, Pilibhit, revealed that irregularities were found in 10,470 entries in the voter rolls in Pilibhit Assembly constituency.The two officials, Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary, the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDM) of Puranpur and Amaria, respectively, served as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs. They were also removed from their administrative posts and attached to the district headquarters. Departmental action was being initiated against them.The services of the Computer Assistant (VRC Operator) at the Voter Registration Centre of Pilibhit constituency, Anil Kumar, were terminated. A probe ordered by the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa found the three guilty in the matter.While a copy of the FIR was not immediately available, District Magistrate Alok Kumar said three persons were named in it. Since the matter was of a “serious nature,” an FIR has been lodged under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said Kumar.Also read: ‘13,150 Names Altered’: UP CEO Orders Action Against Officials After Opposition Flags Glitches in Pilibhit Voter ListThe exact sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) invoked in the FIR and the alleged culpability of each accused were not known.The administrative action was taken after Opposition parties flagged large-scale irregularities in the voter roll in the Pilibhit Assembly constituency. On October 21, the Congress party alleged that it had found major irregularities involving more than 16,000 entries in the voter list of the constituency.The party alleged that even after the final draft of the electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh was released on April 10, names associated with 13,510 voters were subsequently altered between July and September, even though their EPIC numbers and serial numbers remained unchanged.Samajwadi Party state president Shyam Lal Pal had earlier, on October 19, submitted a written complaint to the CEO stating that an online search for the EPIC numbers of many registered voters in the constituency revealed the details of entirely different individuals.Leaders of both parties had claimed that the voters affected were predominantly Muslim.Following a probe into the matter, Uttar Pradesh CEO Rinwa said that the Computer Assistant (VRC Operator) and the EROs deployed in the Assembly constituency (up to July 16 and from July 17 to August 29), were responsible for the irregularities in the entries and found guilty in the matter.The investigation found that a total of 13,779 Form-8 entries were made by the Computer Assistant (VRC Operator) at the Voter Registration Centre of Pilibhit constituency for changes to voter details between May 31 and August 29, 2026. Of these, a total of 4,717 forms were entered up to July 16, while the remaining 9,062 forms were entered between July 17 and August 29.“No forms or records related to any of these entries were found available in the office,” said Rinwa. A total of 10,470 forms were approved while 3,309 forms were rejected.The CEO also said that a thorough investigation into the role of the concerned assistant electoral registration officers had also been ordered.Meanwhile, the district election officer Pilibhit was directed to conduct a probe of all Form 6 entries made by the concerned computer assistant at the voter registration centre for adding names to the electoral roll and all Form 7 entries for deletion of names, from the end of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026, dated April 10 up to October 21.Also read: UP CEO’s ‘Mr Fact-Checker’ Jibe at Zubair Draws Flak Amid SIR, Voter ID DuplicationsThe process of correcting all entries in which irregularities were found was underway, said officials. District Magistrate Kumar said the voter list for not just the Pilibhit Sadar seat but all constituencies in the district would be cleaned up in a day or two.Hemraj Verma, former minister and Samajwadi Party’s probable candidate from the constituency, who flagged the issue, said the campaign against “vote thieves” will continue.“The truth may be troubled, but never defeated. Action begins against vote thieves! This is just the beginning; no minister, MLA, senior official, or employee involved in this great sin will be spared,” said Verma.In 2022, the BJP’s Sanjay Singh Gangwar, currently a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, had won the Pilibhit seat by a margin of less than 7,000 votes.Omar Rashid is an independent journalist. For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.