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The Karnataka government is seeking to revive the stalled criminal investigation into the 2022 Chilume Trust voter data theft case in Bengaluru. On November 27, 2025, the state appointed senior advocate Ravi Verma Kumar to represent them in a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court.
The petition relates to two presently stayed FIRs registered at Halasuru Gate and Kadugodi police stations against the Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust. According to The Hindu, the state government said Ravi Verma Kumar was appointed with the objective of seeking a vacation of the stay orders.
If the stay is lifted, the investigation is likely to be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by BK Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who is currently probing the voter fraud case in Aland Assembly Constituency.
Aland vote fraud: Ex BJP MLA and son prime accused in chargesheet
In 2022, TNM, along with Kannada digital platform Pratidhvani, uncovered large-scale voter data theft in Bengaluru. The investigation showed that the Chilume Trust, founded by Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Ravikumar Krishnappa, had allegedly collected voter data covertly by deploying field agents who posed as election officials.
The data collection was enabled by multiple state government orders that permitted the Chilume trust to carry out Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities under the pretext of raising awareness about voter rights. The trust had also engaged hundreds of young workers for fieldwork, offering them a monthly payment of Rs 15,000.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power in the state at the time.
Following TNM’s exposé, which triggered a major political controversy, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered a 100% verification of all deletions and additions to the electoral rolls in Shivajinagar Assembly Constituency and two other constituencies. The verification exercise was to be completed by December 24, 2022.