Pune Cops Recover Stolen Control Unit Of EVM, Arrest 2

Police have recovered the control unit of an electronic voting machine (EVM) after it was allegedly stolen from the office of a revenue official in Maharashtra’s Pune district, and arrested two persons in this connection, an official said on Wednesday.

Taking cognisance of the matter, the Election Commission (EC) of India has directed the state government to suspend the sub-divisional officer, tehsildar and sub-divisional police officer of the area and initiate disciplinary proceedings against them.

The incident of theft had occurred at the office of a tehsildar in Saswad on February 3 and a CCTV footage of the offence surfaced on social media.

“Three thieves allegedly stole the control unit of the EVM and some stationary material from the tehsildar office. The incident came to light on Monday,” a senior police official said.

The stolen control unit of the EVM was recovered within 24 hours of the theft, he said.

“We nabbed two persons involved in the crime and the control unit was recovered from them in Jejuri area of the district. We are investigating the matter further,” he added.

A case was registered at the Saswad police station against the accused trio, the official said.

Meanwhile, EC has directed the state to suspend the area’s sub-divisional officer, tehsildar and sub-divisional police officer and initiate disciplinary proceedings against them.

It also directed the state government to seek an explanation from the district election officer, superintendent of police and district collector for not ensuring security protocols of training and awareness.

“There were directions from the Election Commission about the suspension. We are in the process of issuing the suspension orders,” said Chandrakant Pulkundwar, the divisional commissioner (Pune division).