Kolkata, 10 December (H.S.) :

In Nadia district’s Hanskhali area of West Bengal, a man has been accused of attempting to register his second wife, a Bangladeshi citizen, in the voter list by misusing the voter ID of his first wife. The case came to light on Wednesday when the first wife filed a formal complaint against her husband.

The complaint has been lodged at Hanskhali police station and with Ranaghat SDM Bharat Singh. According to reports, Usha Roy, the first wife of Ashok Roy, left her marital home in Shyamnagar Mathpara due to her husband’s alleged cruelty. Though legal separation has not been finalized, Ashok is reported to have married a second woman, identified locally as a Bangladeshi national.

It is alleged that Ashok stole Usha’s EPIC (voter ID) card and attempted to use her identity to register his second wife, Beauty Roy, in the electoral rolls. Usha, who had left home with her child, was informed of the incident by neighbors and learned about her husband’s second marriage.

Usha stated that when she went to obtain the nomination form under the SIR (Systematic Identification of Records) process, she discovered that her husband had already submitted the form using her details. When she confronted him, Ashok allegedly drove her out of the house.

“My EPIC number, name, age, and address were used to create a voter ID for a Bangladeshi woman, simply replacing the photograph with that of my husband’s second wife. I have submitted a written complaint to Hanskhali police and Ranaghat SDM,” Usha said.

Following the allegations, Ashok and his second wife reportedly went into hiding. Ashok’s brother, Navkumar Roy, admitted, “Ashok acted wrongly. He used my sister-in-law’s EPIC number and replaced the photo with that of his second wife.”

Local Booth Level Officer (BLO) Biswajit Bar confirmed that the matter is under investigation. “Both voter IDs share the same EPIC number, but the photographs are different. The case is being thoroughly examined,” he said.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh