Two foreigners booked for voting in elections

Trichy: Two foreign residents have been booked on charges of casting votes in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu assembly elections. They were intercepted by immigration officials at Chennai airport while attempting to leave the country.

On May 17, M Salmon Parsh, a 37-year-old Sri Lankan resident, of Pon Nagar, Trichy, was stopped at Chennai airport around 10pm while proceeding to Sri Lanka. During the immigration check, officials discovered that Parsh had cast his vote in the Trichy West constituency at Seva Sangam Higher Secondary School, William’s Road, Cantonment.

Similarly, on May 10, 59-year-old Malaysian resident V Ranjani, residing in Thillai Nagar, Trichy, was intercepted at while heading to Malaysia. An inquiry revealed that Ranjani had cast her vote at KAPV Higher Secondary School, Thillai Nagar.

Chennai police initially registered zero FIRs under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 for illegal voting. They also invoked sections 318(2) and 337 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and forgery of official documents. Considering jurisdiction, both cases were later transferred to the local police stations in Trichy.