The Election Commission (EC) has suspended a Sector Officer and a member of medical staff in Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh after they allegedly took Election Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voting-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary, violating EC’s orders and thereby, compromising the security of the EVMs and VVPATs on Tuesday, November 27, a day before elections in the state.
Reportedly, the EC stated in it’s press note that a reserve Micro Officer and a Security Officer were also involved in carrying the EVMs and VVPATs to the Raj Mahal hotel, situated in Shujalpur.
EC confirms poll officials along with reserved EVM machine checked into Raj Mahal Hotel, Shajapur on Nov 27 against the instructions of the commission pic.twitter.com/mD9RzttTSV
— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) November 30, 2018
A video of the four officers staying at the hotel had gone viral on social media. It was also alleged that the officers were drunk.
https://twitter.com/SarveshSays/status/1068735331464347653
Reportedly, the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and Station House Officer (SHO) were rushed to the hotel at night when EC received the information.
The EC has said that the EVMs and VVPATs were examined by engineers and it was found that no attempts had been made to tamper them. The four personnel were replaced the same night.
Sohal Lal Bajaj, the sector officer and Raees Mansuri, the medical staff member were suspended on Wednesday, November 28. Denying the allegation that the men were drunk, the EC also stated that all four would face disciplinary action.
Also Read: Madhya Pradesh: Police Seizes Rs 29.5 Lakhs From Alleged BJP Member