About 25 foreign nationals have been arrested or detained so far for allegedly casting votes with fraudulently obtained identity documents in the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly election, police sources confirmed on Thursday.

The accused persons, carrying foreign passports, were intercepted by officials of the Bureau of Immigration and detained by the local police after indelible ink (the mark of a cast ballot) was found on their index fingers. The operation that started about a week ago is continuing.

Action initiated

Legal proceedings under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and other laws were initiated against them.

Investigators said a majority of the suspects were Sri Lankan nationals, though the group included British and Canadian citizens. Many more foreign nationals who arrived during the election time could have exercised their franchise and stayed back, knowing that the police were verifying their credentials during departure at airports. Acting on intelligence that some foreigners were attempting to leave the country after voting, the law enforcement agencies alerted officials at the Chennai, Madurai, and other airports.

Discreet inquiries

“We conducted discreet inquiries and alerted the authorities who detained 25 to 30 persons as they prepared to board flights,” a senior official told The Hindu on Thursday.

A man of Indian origin, who obtained a British passport in 2015, allegedly voted in the Pattukottai Assembly constituency. He was detained at the Chennai International Airport while attempting to board a flight to London.

The investigation revealed that several of the foreigners arrived in the State shortly after the election was notified. Some might have stayed back for the indelible ink to disappear. Digital records and other investigative means could still verify their participation in the election, said an official who did not want to be quoted.

Most of the detentions occurred in Chennai, though two foreign nationals were identified as having voted in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Report submitted to ECI

Asked about the potential impact on the election result, the official declined to comment and said a comprehensive report had been submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI). There could be many more foreign nationals who cast their votes and were yet to leave India. Investigation was under way to analyse the details of foreigners who arrived in India before the day of polling and were yet to leave, the official said.

In 2025, immigration officials requested the ECI to remove approximately 100 names of foreigners of Indian origin from the electoral rolls. During the scrutiny of documents, they found that the foreign nationals were in possession of electors photo identity cards (EPICs). “This year too, the names of 60 foreigners were removed from the rolls. All these persons had foreign citizenship and fraudulent address claims for voting rights in India,” said an official coordinating with the ECI.

Under ECI rules, an ‘overseas elector’ must be a citizen of India who has not acquired citizenship in any other country. While Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) can register themselves to vote under Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, they are required to produce an original Indian passport at the polling booth. Those who have renounced Indian citizenship are barred from voting.