Police probe on after bagful of voter cards found in Kalyani
The Statesman | 26 October 2025According to local sources, two residents noticed a suspicious-looking man loitering near Majherchar in the afternoon. When they questioned him, his nervous demeanour aroused further doubt. Upon inspecting his bag, the locals were stunned to find over a hundred voter identity cards neatly stacked inside. Some of them, police confirmed later, were not even from West Bengal but from the state of Assam.
The man, who has not been identified yet, was immediately detained and handed over to the Kalyani police. Investigators are now trying to ascertain whether the recovered cards are genuine or counterfeit and how they ended up in his possession.
The police have launched a full-fledged investigation to determine the source of the cards, their authenticity, and the possible involvement of a larger network. Officials have already informed the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Kalyani about the matter, and the Election Commission is expected to be notified as well.
“How did such a large number of voter cards — including some from another state — land on a roadside in Kalyani? Who placed them there, and for what purpose? These are the questions we are trying to answer,” said a senior police officer involved in the probe.
Debasis Panda, IC, Kalyani said: “The man is a mentally challenged and he couldn’t answer anything during interrogation. But, we are conducting a thorough investigation into this matter.”
Meanwhile, the incident has triggered a fierce war of words between the ruling Trinamul Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ambika Roy, BJP MLA from Kalyani, alleged that the episode exposes “a deeper malaise” in the electoral system and demanded an impartial investigation by central agencies. “This cannot be an isolated incident. It’s a reflection of how voter data and documents are being manipulated,” she claimed.
In response, Biplab De, president of the Kalyani Town Trinamul Congress, accused the BJP of “creating unnecessary panic for political mileage” and insisted that “law enforcement will bring the truth to light soon.”
