DEHRADUN: Taking cognisance of a video purportedly showing tampering of postal ballots, the Election Commission has sought a report from Pithoragarh District Magistrate on it at the earliest, official said on Thursday.
The recording is said to have originated from Didihat constituency.
An action in the matter will be taken after his report is received, Additional Chief Electoral Officer C Ravishankar said.
The video in which a man in Army uniform is purportedly seen ticking and signing several postal ballots was shared by AICC general secretary and former chief minister Harish Rawat on Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday asking whether the poll body would take cognisance of it.
Meanwhile, on the complaint of Didihat Congress candidate Pradeep Pal an FIR was filed against unidentified people under sections of the IPC and the People's Representation Act, Pithoragarh SP Lokeshwar Singh said.
The authenticity of the video is being verified, he said.
BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pradesh party president Madan Kaushik, termed the video "fake".
"The video is fake. The Congress has floated it in a face saving attempt as it can foresee its defeat in the assembly polls," Dhami had said in Haldwani on Wednesday.
Kaushik said it was done by the party as it knows it is going to lose in the assembly polls and wants to blame the democratic institutions for its defeat.
He also called it an insult to the armed forces.