A screenshot of an alleged Facebook post is being widely shared on social media with the claim that Ananda (Anondo) Sardar, one of the accused arrested in the alleged rape and murder of a minor in West Bengal’s Baruipur, had served as a CPI(M) polling agent during the 2026 assembly elections.
The minor girl’s body was recovered from a pond in Surjyapur village on July 5, after she had gone missing a day earlier. Her family and local residents alleged that the police failed to act promptly despite a missing complaint. Protests over the alleged police inaction escalated into violence, during which one person was allegedly lynched by a mob. Police later arrested four people in connection with the rape and murder, including Ananda Sardar.
Soon after, some social media users began claiming that Sardar had been a polling agent for CPI(M)’s Baruipur Paschim candidate, MD Lahek Ali, during the 2026 assembly elections. The claim was initially circulated by individual Facebook users before being amplified by the Facebook page The Bengal Owl, which shared a screenshot purportedly showing a Facebook post made by Sardar on April 29, the second phase of elections in Bengal.
The ‘post’ contains a form purportedly filled up by Sardar. Though the header of the document is not visible, it appears to be a filled up Form 10 or an appointment letter for a polling agent.
The screenshot was further shared by various other social media users, helping it go viral.
Click to view slideshow.Bengal BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh, while speaking to a local media outlet, made the same claim. “The man who is now seen… some Ananda.. I heard he was CPM’s booth agent. They should explain…” he stated.
Alt News received multiple requests on its WhatsApp helpline to verify the authenticity of the Facebook post and the purported form. Incidentally, Lahek Ali was arrested on July 12 in connection with the mob violence that broke out in Baruipur during protests over the alleged rape and murder.
Fact Check
The image in circulation appears to be a Form 10 or the form/document required to appoint polling agents on the day of the election. To confirm this, we compared the viral document with a Form 10 downloaded from the ECI website, and found that it was indeed a copy of Form 10.
When we looked closely at the viral form, we found several inconsistencies. The viral screenshot gives the name of polling station number 192 as ‘Dhapadhapi Suryyapur F P School’. However, in ECI’s list of polling stations for the Baruipur Paschim assembly constituency, booth number 192 corresponds to Dhanbediya F P School.
There are two polling booths in Baruipur Paschim assembly named Dhapadhapi Suryyapur F P School, but their serial numbers are 223 and 224.
To further verify the authenticity of the claim that Sardar was CPI(M) candidate’s polling agent, we accessed Form 17C of booth number 192 of Baruipur Paschim assembly for the recently held polls. Form 17C is issued after the completion of the polls to every polling agent. It contains information such as the total number of votes polled, the serial number of the control unit, the serial number of the balloting unit etc.
The document has the signatures of the polling agents from Booth 192. The name Ananda Sardar does not feature in the list. We also noticed that the signature of the presiding officer on Form 17C is different from the signature on the viral document.
After the claim became viral, CPI(M) candidate MD Lahek Ali posted an image of his election affidavit on Facebook. His signature in the affidavit doesn’t matches with the purported signature in the viral document.
When Alt News reached out to Ali a couple of days before his arrest, he said, “My election agent Safiuddin Khan signed all appointment letters for polling agents. My signature is not there in any Form 10 in Baruipur Paschim assembly. The viral document is fake.”
Alt News spoke to Safiuddin and he confirmed this.
When asked who his polling agent was in Booth 192, Ali named Provakar Sardar. This, readers should note, is the first name in Form 17C of that booth.
Alt News visited Dhanbediya village in Shikharbali-2 gram panchayat of Baruipur block on July 17 and traced Provakar Sardar.
Provakar confirmed to Alt News that he was Lahek Ali’s polling agent in Booth 192. We verified his identity documents, including his Aadhaar and election photo identity card.
Standing about 30 meters from the Dhanbediya Free Primary School, Provakar told Alt News, “I was the only polling agent of Lahek Ali in Booth 192 of Baruipur Paschim assembly seat. I was in the polling station all day — from 5 am to 8 pm. I did not even need a reliever. If anyone claims there was an agent named Ananda Sardar, they are totally wrong.”
Alt News also spoke to two local villagers, Pintu Naskar and Rabiram Mondal, both of whom are voters of Booth 192. Both of them told us that Provakar was Lahek Ali’s polling agent in their booth. There was no agent named Ananda Sardar in that booth.
The same was also confirmed to Alt News by the BLO of Booth 192, Manas Biswas, and local Trinamool Congress panchayat member, Dinabandhu Naskar. The CPI(M) also refuted the claim that Ananda Sardar was the party’s polling agent or associated with the party in any capacity.
Thus it can be definitively concluded that in booth 192 of Baruipur Paschim assembly, CPI(M) candidate MD Lahek Ali didn’t appoint Ananda Sardar as his polling agent. The viral document is fake.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Anindya Hazra.
Anindya Hazra | Radio Free (2026-07-18T04:21:20+00:00) Baruipur rape-murder accused Ananda Sardar was CPI(M)’s polling agent? No, fake document viral. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/07/18/baruipur-rape-murder-accused-ananda-sardar-was-cpims-polling-agent-no-fake-document-viral/
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