Uttar Pradesh Elections/ Polling/ Assembly Elections/Polls
Voters queue up outside a polling centre to cast their vote in Haraiya town, during the state assembly election in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh February 8, 2012. (Picture used for representation.) Reuters

A one-year-old boy in India has been issued an order to appear in court after police concluded he could disrupt peace during a by-election and even capture polling booths.

The toddler from Usmanpur village of Moradabad district in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was served the notice along with his 28-year-old father, Yaseen, the Times of India reported.

The report said the child's name has also been included in the list of criminals in the region.

As a precautionary measure, local police had been asked to compile a list of persons with criminal antecedents who could potentially mar the election process and file a report on them. The one-year-old's name wound its way into this list.

The Moradabad police filed a report suggesting that the boy and his father could disrupt elections by intimidating voters into casting their ballots for a particular candidate.

They also said the boy, along with his father, could try to capture booths on the election day.

The by-election is set to take place on 13 September.

The father of the boy had to produce a security bond of 50,000 rupees (£506) to evade arrest.

"The court officer issued me a security bond but denied the same to my son Nazim saying this was ridiculous," Yaseen told the daily.

Far from being a mere error, Yaseen thinks some policemen who bore a grudge against him deliberately included his son's name in the list of criminals.

The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has promised to take action against the erring policemen who filed the false report against the boy.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Moradabad, Gulab Singh, said: "The case has been brought to my knowledge and it is true that some policemen have intentionally filed the false report against the toddler. A departmental inquiry has been initiated against the SHO Thakurdwara, the area in-charge SI and the sepoy of the police station."

The case bears similarity to the April 2014 case of a nine-month-old baby in Pakistan being slapped with an attempt to murder charge.

India