Virajpet constituency EVMs hacked: Congress candidate Arun Machaiah
Assembly Election
Madikeri, June 26: Alleging that the EVMs used in the constituency for Assembly election might have hacked, Congress defeated candidate from Virajpet CS Arun Machaiah that the votes polled in the constituency should be counted again along with the VVPAT.
Before submitting a memorandum to the Central Election Commissioner and State Election Officer through the district Returning Officer demanding recounting of votes here on Tuesday, he told media persons that he would obey the verdict of the people. But the election held through EVMs would not be a transparent one. He was ready to prove the EVMs hacking from technical experts, he said.
The Constituency has 269 polling stations and as per the survey conducted by him and his party workers after the election, he should have won the election by a margin of 9000 votes. But during the counting, his opponent candidate won the election with a huge margin of votes and it created suspicion of hacking. As there is a norm that any objections regarding election should be filed within 45 days, he collected the complete details for one month and complained to the Central Election Commission and State Election Chief Officer, he said.
The developed countries like USA, Italy, Netherland, Germany and others have proved that EVMs are not transparent. Though the EVMs were improvised in view of this opinion, the central government had accepted that the EVM2 used in the previous elections were not reliable. Moreover, the Central Government had assured the Supreme Court of using EVM 3 in next elections. But in Karnataka Assembly elections, the Election Commission had used EVM2 and this led to suspicion, he said.
Though Karnataka had more than 12.50 lakh EVM2, the central government had supplied EVMs used in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat elections to Karnataka. After bringing them to Karnataka, the EVMs were kept in the National Institute of Engineering of Mysuru, which also raised concerns. He is suspected that a professor with the help of a team of engineers ‘manipulated’ the EVMs, he alleged.
Giving an example of luring someone to hack the EVM at a constituency in Mysuru, Arun Machaiah said that such persons might have hacked the EVMs in Kodagu and he has some information that such people were absconding. Now, the Cyber Crime officials have been investigating, he said.
Experts are of the opinion that microchips could be installed in EVM2 and the votes registered in such machines could be transferred to other person remotely. In view of this, the Election Commission should recount the votes recorded in the EVM and registered in the VVPAT. He would also move the High Court demanding action against the culprits for misusing the EVMs. Same complaints would be lodged from Mangaluru, Mysuru and other constituencies, he said.
District Congress spokesperson Tatu Monnappa, Virajpet Block president RK Salam, Napoklu Block president BS Ramanath and Ponnampet Block president Dharmaja Uthappa were present at the press conference.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
