An FIR has been registered against independent journalist Ajit Anjum in Bihar’s Begusarai district for allegedly spreading misinformation about the voter roll revision exercise in Bihar.

In a video on his YouTube channel on July 12, Anjum alleged large-scale irregularities in the voter list in the Sahebpur Kamal assembly constituency. The district administration, in a statement, dismissed these claims as “baseless”, “misleading”, and intended to “incite public sentiment”.

The FIR was registered on July 13 at the Balia police station based on a complaint by booth-level officer Mohammad Ansarulhaq. The complaint alleged that Ajit Anjum and his colleagues met him while he was uploading data using the BLO app and began asking questions about Muslim voters in the area. “Anjum’s focus was on the claim that the Muslim voter is being harassed which is absolutely false.”

The Begusarai SP confirmed the registration of the FIR.

Referring to the Election Commission’s guidelines, the Bihar administration claimed that the entire process was being carried out transparently.

Responding to the FIR, Ajit Anjum posted on X that a “Muslim BLO is being used as a scapegoat against me”. 

“An FIR has been filed against me in Begusarai by pressuring a BLO. Watch the video and decide for yourself if I said anything to that Muslim BLO that could possibly disturb communal harmony. When they couldn’t find anything else, they chose this route. A Muslim BLO is being used as a scapegoat against me. Instead of answering the questions raised in the video, the administration is resorting to intimidation. Let me just say this – I am still in Begusarai. And if needed, I will take this fight all the way to the Supreme Court. I will not be afraid.”

The video published on the YouTube channel is essentially a ground report investigating the Special Intensive Revision campaign underway in the Balia block. It shows how a large number of voter forms are being filled and uploaded without the required documents or photographs.

The report features direct conversations with the BLO and supervisor in Balia, suggesting that many forms are incomplete, some even missing names, signatures, or any form of identity proof.

The video also states that over 80 percent of people from “Muslim-majority” booths have submitted forms with proper documentation. Additionally, the BLO is seen clarifying that claims about Bangladeshis or Rohingyas being listed as voters are completely false. In doing so, the report questions several claims made by the Election Commission and raises serious concerns about the transparency of the voter list revision process.

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