Former Minister and DMK candidate for Tiruchi West Assembly constituency K. N. Nehru lodged a complaint with the Returning Officer (RO) of the constituency over movement of CCTV (closed circuit television) technicians carrying a laptop within the counting centre at Jamal Mohamed College campus on Saturday morning.
Mr. Nehru, who submitted a representation to RO Viswanathan on Saturday in this regard, alleged that a few technicians, tasked with fitting CCTVs and permitted entry into the campus by the Returning Officer, were found working atop the building at around 3 a.m. on Saturday. When the police conducted a check, on being alerted, the technicians were found to be working with a laptop although they were not permitted to carry one.
“How did the policemen guarding the centre allow the technicians to carry the laptop without specific permission from the Returning Officer? This has given rise to suspicions that they could have changed the votes polled in the EVMs,” Mr. Nehru alleged.
The laptop used by the technicians be impounded immediately and kept in the strong room, he demanded and urged the RO to ensure that such incidents did not take place again.
Mr. Nehru said already he had raised objections against security personnel on duty using smart phones and laptops on floors above the strong room and counting halls where they have been provided accommodation. “We had sought their shifting to another block, but no action has been taken,” he claimed.
When contacted, the Returning Officer said that work on installing CCTVs, some electrical and civil works were under way at the counting hall and the counting centre. Only Public Works Department-approved workers were engaged in the work, he said.
