‘We are not part of Botswana EVM hackers challenge’

An Indian electronic voting machine (EVM) manufacturer has denied that it has been invited to participate in a challenge to hack them in Botswana.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), one of the two manufacturers of EVMs in India, said it has only been invited to demonstrate the functions of the machines. There were media reports that the election commission of Botswana invited experts to hack into the India-made EVMs after the recent controversy over the reliability of the devices in India.

Several political parties in India had alleged that EVMs were manipulated in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states to benefit the BJP, a charge Election Commission of India vehemently denied.

A report on the portal ITWEBAfrica set off speculation that in the wake of questions being raised in India about the tamperability of EVMs, Botswana too has decided to hold a challenge, inviting hackers.

“Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officials have invited hackers to prove whether or not the country’s proposed electronic voting machine system can be manipulated. The new voting system is expected to be used for the country’s next general elections in 2019,”the report, subsequently quoted by Indian media, read.

In a statement, BEL clarified that it neither sold EVMs to the African nation nor will it be a part of any challenge to tamper them.

It also clarified it has only been called to demonstrate the functions of EVMs and paper trail machines or the VVPAT, which have been designed for Botswana and are different from the ones used in India. BEL said the statement put out by the Botswana election commission is “without our approval/consent and the facts stated therein are complete false and baseless”.

The ITWEBAfrica report was tweeted by supporters of the Aam Admi Party (AAP), which has levelled allegations that EVMs used in the last round of assembly elections in February-March in five states were tampered.

The AAP, despite EC’s demonstration about the safeguards of the system, questioned the impartiality of the poll panel. On Friday, the EC made another attempt to reach out to parties to eradicate doubts about the functioning of EVMs.

At least 15 Maoist rebels were killed in five days by security forces in Chhattisgarh, the CRPF said on Tuesday but added not a single body has been recovered so far.

One CRPF jawan was also killed in the operations while two others were injured, a spokesperson of the central force said in Delhi.

Some of the slain rebels could have been involved in an ambush that killed 25 CRPF jawans in south Chhattisgarh’s Sukma on April 24, one of the biggest losses faced by the central force engaged in anti-insurgency operations in the state, it said.

The number of Maoist casualties was based on information provided by villagers on the borders of Sukma and Bijapur districts besides the ground troops, the official added.

The operations were carried out between May 12 and 16 by state police and CRPF’s Commando Batallion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a special unit raised to tackle Maoist insurgency, identified as India’s biggest internal security threat.

“As per teams (which took part in the operations) more than a dozen Maoists were killed in (three) encounters and it could be more as we don’t know the exact number,” said DM Awasthi, the state police’s special director general in-charge of anti-Maoist operations told Hindustan Times.

Maoist rebels – who claim to be fighting for the poor and marginalised communities – are known to take away bodies of their fellow-militants from encounter sites.

The CRPF said around 150 Maoists were involved in these encounters and most of them are believed to be from Telangana, which is also battling Left-wing insurgency..

In a related development, the CRPF and Chhattisgarh police claimed to have arrested eight Maoists who were allegedly involved in the April 24 ambush. Since the incident, 18 Maoists have been arrested in the case.

THE CRPF CLAIMED THAT THE MAJOR OPERATIONS WERE CONDUCTED BY 204 COBRA TEAMS AND CHHATTISGARH POLICE IN THE JUNGLES OF SUKMA AND BIJAPUR