Tahsildar suspended for entering room with poll records

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo suspended a woman Tahsildar for violating the election code by entering a storage room where polling records were kept. The inquiry was ordered following a complaint lodged by CPI(M) candidate from Madurai Lok Sabha seat S Venkatesan on Saturday.

Madurai: The election authorities on Sunday ordered the suspension of a woman Tahsildar here for violating the election code by entering a storage room, where polling records were kept.

The suspension order was issued by the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo after a detailed inquiry was conducted into the incident.

The inquiry was ordered following a complaint lodged by the CPI(M) candidate in Madurai Lok Sabha seat, S Venkatesan on Saturday, alleging that an unidentified person had entered the strong room, where EVMs had been stored and taken a copy of some documents.

The person had spent two hours in the room, he said.

However, the officials clarified that the suspended revenue official did not enter the strong room, where the EVMs were stored.

The three-tier security system has been provided to the strong rooms, which are being monitored using CCTV cameras round-the-clock, they added.

Meanwhile, a delegation of leaders of DMK, Left parties and VCK called on the Chief Electoral Officer in Chennai and demanded a high-level enquiry into the 'lapse' and criminal action against erring officials.

Replacing the Returning Officer and Madurai District Collector, bringing the strong rooms housing the EVMs in the Counting Centre fully under the ambit of Central Armed Police Forces were among the demands put forth by the delegation.

The delegation comprised DMK's R S Barathi, State Secretaries of CPI (M) and CPI, K Balakrishnan and R Mutharasan respectively and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan.

In a statement, DMK chief M K Stalin alleged government officials unauthorisedly entering the counting centre that housed the EVMs at Madurai and indulging in irregularities has caused a "huge suspicion and it is a big challenge to democracy."

This episode has led to a question mark on the safety and security of Electronic Voting Machines, he said.

AIADMK candidate for Madurai Lok Sabha constituency VVR Raj Sathyan sought an explanation as to why the official entered the room, where poll-related documents were stored.

We have given a representation to Madurai District Collector, he said.