On Sunday, residents scoured the Narmada riverbank in Mandleshwar, Khargone district, and stumbled upon 343 voter ID cards. The discarded cards, reportedly belonging to the Rau assembly constituency in adjacent Indore district, were recovered during a community cleanup that drew a crowd of local volunteers. A video capturing the pile of cards spread across social media within hours, sparking outrage among voters who worried about the safety of their electoral records.
District Congress president Ravi Naik, accompanied by party workers, rushed to Mandleshwar police station to file a formal complaint. He urged the authorities to register an FIR and accused the Election Commission of lax oversight, saying the disposal could undermine voter confidence. Naik warned, "The Congress will gherao the police station if an FIR is not registered."
Shweta Shukla, Mandleshwar Sub‑Divisional Officer of Police, said the cards were seized by the revenue team during the cleanup and that the police station in charge has been directed to investigate the matter. She added that the police had already received a complaint from the Congress and that a search operation in the river was being considered.
For the residents who hauled the cards, the incident felt like a betrayal of civic responsibility. "We were just cleaning the river, and suddenly these were lying everywhere," one volunteer told reporters, adding that the discovery raised concerns about how easily official documents can be mishandled.
The police are now tasked with tracing the source of the discarded cards and determining whether any party members or officials were involved. The outcome of the investigation will decide whether an FIR is filed and could prompt a broader inquiry into voter ID security ahead of the upcoming state elections.