Two men carrying Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were caught on Tuesday from Chennai’s Velachery area. Two men were seen riding with EVMs on a two-wheeler near Velachery.
After the duo was caught, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cadres claimed that they were trying to tamper with the EVMs at a secluded spot when Swiggy delivery staff caught them.
A video of the incident has gone viral. Police have launched an investigation into the matter.
Tamil Nadu went to polls on Tuesday, registering a 71.79 per cent voter turnout.
However, the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said the EVMs were reserve units and were not used for polling on Tuesday.
“As per the preliminary findings of the DEO [District Election officer], these two were not the polled EVMs. We will take strict action for any violation of the SOP for handling of EVMs,” he said.
Earlier, four EVMs and a similar number of VVPAT machines were found at the house of Trinamool Congress leader Gautam Ghosh in Uluberia constituency following which an election official was suspended by the poll body.
An FIR was registered against Tapan Sarkar, an Election Commission of India (ECI) sector officer, for violation of rules of the EC. The EVMs and VVPAT machines were not used in Tuesday’s polling in West Bengal.
However, Gautam Ghosh’s wife denied the involvement of the TMC leader and said that he stayed inside his room while the EVMs were outside, within the premises of their house.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/tamil-nadu-assembly-polls-2021/story/men-arrested-being-caught-tampering-evms-chennai-1788017-2021-04-07
