India, April 22 -- Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan has ordered all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across the state to undertake a proper verification before names of about 9.8 lakh voters deleted from the electoral rolls, officials aware of the matter said.

The CEO has specifically asked them to put on hold the scrutiny of two lakh people who have lodged complaints of wrongful removal from the electoral roll. It is also directed to verify at least 50 per cent of the cases, an official said.

Senior officials in the CEO's office said that "a large number of complaints have been received, including cases where voters were found to be present at their addresses and instances where BLOs did not conduct field visits ...