Seraikela-Kharsawan, September 14: A dispute between a villager and a Circle Officer at a block office in Seraikela-Kharsawan district during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has triggered a local protest, with both sides offering contrasting accounts of the incident.
According to allegations made by Arshad Ansari, a resident of Chauda village, he visited the Kurku block office on September 12 after receiving a notice concerning a discrepancy in his father’s name in voter records.
Ansari said he carried copies of his Aadhaar card, voter ID, the 2003 electoral roll and land-related documents to seek clarification about the verification process. He alleged that Circle Officer Abhay Kumar Dwivedi became angry during the discussion and tore the notice and accompanying papers.
Ansari further alleged that his relative, Sajid, was assaulted when he intervened during the argument.A video associated with the incident reportedly shows the officer raising his hand and moving towards a man during the exchange.
However, the available account does not independently establish the allegations of assault or document destruction.
Following the dispute, local residents gathered at the block office and staged a protest. Participants also objected to claims circulating on social media that members of a particular community had attempted to attack the officer, saying such reports did not accurately represent what happened.
Protester Mohammad Mehmood Sultan alleged that the officer remained inside his office for around two hours following the confrontation, after which claims about an attempted attack were circulated online.
The Circle Officer, however, rejected the allegations of assault and destruction of documents. Dwivedi said there had been repeated visits by residents who were seeking clarification over the SIR process and that officials had already explained the documentation requirements.
He said a vanshavali, or family genealogy document, was not necessary in every case and that officials were examining the documents submitted by residents.Dwivedi said he is serving as the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) at Nimdih block and is also in charge of Kurku.
He said officials were assisting residents with documentation, collecting land records and maps, and organising camps to facilitate the process.He appealed to residents to cooperate with the SIR exercise and said the dispute should now be brought to an end.
Local AJSU leader Ashok Saw criticised the officer’s alleged conduct and claimed that similar complaints had been raised against him previously. These allegations have not been independently established.
As of Monday, no formal complaint had been filed by either side in connection with the incident.The dispute comes amid the ongoing electoral-roll revision exercise in Jharkhand, under which officials are working with residents to verify and update voter information.
