Pune IAS aspirant sought ₹1 cr to tamper with EVMs: Police
POSED AS ELECTION COMMISSIONER Sent messages to several sitting MLAs of Congress and BJP just 2 days before polls
SHIMLA : Pune IAS aspirant Sachin Rathore, 24, who was arrested last Monday for luring candidates contesting the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections to manipulate electronic voting machines (EVMs) in their favour, had allegedly sought ₹1 crore from many candidates.
As per the investigation carried out by Shimla police, Rathore, posing as an election commission official, had sent messages to several candidates and offered to tamper the EVMs as per their convenience.
“He sent the SMSes to several sitting MLAs of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party seeking ₹1 crore in return,” a police official, requesting anonymity, told Hindustan Times.
Rathore had sent all these messages on November 6 and 7, just two days before Himachal Pradesh went to the polls.
Meanwhile the accused maintained that he does not know to hack any machine.
“It was a mistake. I only sent messages saying that I am the election commissioner of Himachal and also wrote his name,” said Sa chin Rat ho re. When these messages were sent to the candidates, many ignored it while some called Rajput and complained about such messages.
Shimla SP Soumya Sambasivan said, “The investigation is on. The youth knows nothing
about EVM hacking. He tried to lure candidates. He was produced in the court and sent to judicial custody till December 9.”
Rathore, a student of Fergusson College, had sent messages from different mobile numbers. He was arrested on November 17 in Pune and brought to Shimla on transit remand.
The police had registered a case under Sections 124A (sedition) and 505 (2) (circulating statements conducing to public mischief) of Indian Penal Code. The police may add more sections as the probe is still on.
SHIMLA SP SAYS THAT THE YOUTH DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT EVM HACKING BUT WAS TRYING TO LURE CANDIDATES