Assam: Probe ordered over security breach at Nalbari strong room
Guwahati (PTI): The Assam government on Wednesday will conduct an inquiry related to security breach inside the strong room of Nalbari district during the poll day on May 7, according to an official communique.
Home and Political Department Principal Secretary B Kalyan Chakravarthy has been entrusted to carry out the probe related to the security breach on the polling day.
Voting in Nalbari district, which is a part of Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency, took place in the third phase on May 7.
Asking the Nalbari District Commissioner Varnali Deka to be present, the Home & Political Department on Tuesday night said that the inquiry proceedings will start at 4 pm at the district headquarters on Wednesday.
"I am directed to inform you that Shri B Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary to the Govt of Assam, Home & Political Departments is going to visit Nalbari on 22.05.2024 to conduct an enquiry regarding the breach of security at Strong Room premises on 07/05/2024 at Nalbari Election District under Barpeta HPC," Home & Political Department Deputy Secretary said.
Along with Deka, the magistrate in charge of the strong room, security personnel in charge of the strong room and the representatives of political parties witnessing the security breach have also been asked to be present before Chakravarthy.
On May 14, Congress' Barpeta candidate Deep Bayan had complained to the Election Commission of India urging to probe an alleged security breach of the strong room following a police complaint lodged by Deka.
Deka had on May 10 filed a police complaint that "one unknown person" inside the EVM receipt centre asked her to pay Rs 10 lakh to National Award winning filmmaker Luit Kumar Barman, who has been vocal on social media for the past few months over alleged irregularities committed by the DC.
She, in her complaint, claimed that the person, whom she believed to be a poll personnel, had left the premises before she could react.
The receipt counter and strong room have been set up at Government Gurdon Higher Secondary School, and there is only one entry-exit gate of the compound housing both the facilities. Therefore, the receipt counter also enjoyed the heightened security arrangement meant for the strong room.
The police have not been able to identify and nab that person so far, while Barman after appearing at Nalbari Police Station had claimed that the DC made a "completely false and fabricated" case to take "revenge" on him.
Referring to the incident and media reports, Bayan in his complaint to ECI said: "After publishing the same in various electronic and print media as well as in social media, the voters, political parties as well as the candidates strongly suspect that some malpractices, tempering of the EVM machines may have taken place."
He further said that nobody can enter the strong room campus other than contesting candidates and election agents without due authorisation, so the DC's complaint of an unknown person entering the premises to demand money was a serious security breach.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
