New Delhi, May 19 -- The West Bengal Police on Sunday booked three government officials in connection with the deletion of at least 1,000 voters from electoral rolls in an assembly constituency in the state due to a security breach that began in September 2023, officials aware of the matter said. The first information report (FIR) was registered at Harwood Point Coastal police station in the South 24 Parganas district on the basis of a complaint filed by the electoral registration officer (ERO) of the Kakdwip assembly constituency. The FIR names election clerk Abhijit Patra, assistant systems manager Arun Gorain, and inspector of cooperative societies Sudipta Biswas, who worked under their respective assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs). According to the FIR, which HT has seen, the accused have been charged under sections 335 (making a false document) and 336 (forgery) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS); section 32 (breach of official duty in connection with the preparation, etc., of electoral rolls) under Representation of People's Act, 1950; and sections 66 (computer related offences) and 43 (securing access without the permission of the owner) under IT Act. "Regarding wrongful disposal of electoral forms. An inquiry was conducted wherein the disposed forms were reviewed. [requesting] further action as per the Representation of the People Act, the Information Technology Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023," the complaint filed by the ERO said. The development comes two days after it was revealed that login credentials of four AEROs were used without authorisation. According to the ERO's complaint, the mobile numbers of Patra and Gorain were inserted into the login profiles of two AEROs, and some electoral forms were subsequently disposed of using those accounts. Regarding Biswas, the complaint states that he processed forms under the jurisdiction of Kakdwip block, despite being posted elsewhere and lacking administrative authority in that region. The accused disposed forms 6 (new voter addition), 7 (voter deletion), and 8 (changes in the electoral roll) from the login IDof their respective AEROs by using OTPs they received on their own mobile number, the complaint said. Officials aware of the matter said the ECI will be required to provide detailed login records for each AERO to assist state officials with the investigation....