The police have arrested three persons in connection with the recovery of eight VVPAT cases found inside a shed on a highway in Managuli village, on Tuesday.
According to reports, the arrested persons are Harindar and Rajeshwar, both from Bihar, and Chimanbhai Patel of Gujarat. However, it is not clear yet on how they were involved in bringing the VVPAT cases to the shed.
Meanwhile, officials of the Election Commission arrived in Vijayapura on Tuesday. They, however, did not share details. Sources said that they would be submitting the details to the Election Commission itself.
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Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Shettennavar has confirmed that the VVPAT cases do not belong to the district as all the EVMs and VVPAT cases received for the elections were with the district administration.
He said that of the 2,830 EVMs received, 86 did not function and therefore they were returned to BEL, which manufactured the machines.
The remaining 2,744 machines were used for the elections and now they are safely stored in the strongroom, he said.
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He also informed that the VVPAT cases found in the shed were not distributed by the Election Commission. While a Gujarat-based private company manufactures only the cases of the VVPAT machines, the actual machine in manufactured only by BEL.
No bar code
Mr. Shettennavar said these VVPAT cases do not have any bar code or identification code generally placed by the Election Commission on each box before dispatching.
Meanwhile, candidates who lost the election continued to accuse the Election Commission of taking a partial stand. They have demanded a probe by the CBI.