Nehru petitions RO over suspicious movements near strong rooms

DMK principal secretary and Tiruchy West candidate KN Nehru submitted a petition to the Returning Officer complaining about suspicious movements of people with laptops near the strong rooms in the counting centre at Jamal Mohamed College in Tiruchy and demanded action against them.

According to Nehru, the BSF and CRPF personnel who are deployed on security duty have been staying in the upstairs of the strong rooms in Jamal Mohamed College where the EVMs belonging to Tiruchy West and East are stocked.

The personnel are in the habit of using mobile phones and laptops by sitting upstairs of the strong room.

“Since they are using mobile phones and laptops, we have alerted the Returning officer on April 20 and asked to shift the personnel from the spot and relocate their lodging but the officials had not initiated any steps,” Nehru said in the complaint.

“This apart, two technicians in the name of repairing CCTV cameras arrived at the counting centre at around 3 am and they were spotted by the party agents.

“We suspected who had allowed them inside during such a wee hours and what is the use of making them enter into the venue”, he asked.

The party agents who were alert, stopped those technicians and inquired them and they had told the agents that the Returning Officer had asked them to come to the counting centre, he said.

“Those technicians were having laptops and we suspect they were trying to tamper the EVMs. So we urge the Returning Officer to seize those laptops and keep them at the treasury office until the counting gets over”, Nehru said further in the petition.

The Central District Secretary Vairamani, Urban district Secretary Anbalagan, Advocates Wing Secretary Baskaran and others accompanied Nehru.

DMK principal secretary and Tiruchy West candidate KN Nehru pointed fingers at BSF and CRPF personnel who are staying at Jamal Mohamed College where EVMs are kept