Indus Valley Times

MUMBAI,JUN 16: A poll official on Sunday said an EVM was a standalone system that does not need an OTP to unlock it.

Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, was reacting to a report in Mid-day newspaper about a kin of Ravindra Waikar, the Shiv Sena candidate who emerged victorious there by a wafer thin margin of 48 votes, using a mobile phone connected to an EVM during vote counting on June 4.

Mangesh Pandilkar, brother-in-law of Waikar was booked on Wednesday for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre on June 4, when results of the general elections were announced, a police official said on Saturday.

“The EVM is a standalone system and there is no need for an OTP to unlock it. We have issued notice to Mid-day newspaper under sections 499, 505 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation and spreading false news,” Suryavanshi said in a press conference on Sunday.

On Sunday, a report from Mid-day surfaced which said Mangesh Pandilkar was allegedly seen using a phone connected to an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). According to Mid-day, police sources stated that this mobile phone was utilized to generate the OTP required to unlock the EVM.

The Vanrai police station official said the case was registered for Pandlikar’s his alleged act inside a counting centre in Goregaon, which is part of Waikar’s constituency.

“Pandilkar was booked on the complaint of polling personnel Dinesh Gurav. An independent candidate noticed the former using a mobile phone despite a ban on such devices at the counting centre and alerted the returning officer. The RO in turn approached Vanrai police,” he said.

Pandilkar has been booked under Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobeying official order), the official added.

Ravindra Waikar defeated Sena UBT’s Amol Kirtikar by 48 votes in the Mumbai North West seat – the lowest winning margin across the country.

-PTI