The former District Election Officer of Madurai, S. Natarajan, who was transferred following an order of the Madras High Court on a petition accusing him of inaction over a security breach at a counting centre, submitted a report to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Monday.
Though no report was sought from Mr. Natarajan, he still submitted one to the CEO.
Mr. Natarajan was transferred after a woman officer and a few others entered a storage room situated adjacent to the strong room containing EVMs of the Madurai parliamentary constituency on April 20.
Addressing the media, Mr. Sahoo said the woman official, Sampooranam, entered the storage room and tried to verify some papers relating to an Assembly segment.
To persistent queries about the incident, the official said the issue was pending before the court.
As for VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan’s plea for re-polling in certain booths at Ponparappi in the Chidambaram parliamentary constituency, Mr. Sahoo indicated it won’t be possible as election observers had not recommended a re-poll.
₹141 crore seized
During surveillance ahead of the May 19 bypolls to four Assembly constituencies, he said a cash seizure of ₹16.43 lakh was reported on April 28 alone and, so far, ₹141.88 crore had been seized.
When asked about the complaints that the names of a large number of voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls in Kanniyakumari, he said the inquiry into the issue did not find anything to suggest it happened.