Officials fail to open EVM strongrooms in Jagtial

Officials who opened a strong room storing electronic voting machines in Jagtial following High Court orders were in for a shock after they had to run for their lives with a swarm of honey bees attacking them

Jagtial: District officials failed to open three strongrooms, where Electronic Voting Machines of the Dharmapuri assembly constituency were kept.

The EVMs were kept in VRK engineering college in Nukapalli of Mallial mandal. Out of three strongrooms, only one room was opened and officials failed to open the other two rooms after they found that the keys were missing.

---

Officials were trying to open the strongrooms following instructions from the High Court. This was after Congress candidate Adluri Laxman Kumar, who had lost the elections, approached the High Court alleging irregularities in the counting of votes. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate Koppula Eshwar was declared elected by 441 votes. Eshwar and Laxman secured 70,579 and 70,138 votes respectively. The court then directed election officials to open the strongroom and submit the related 17A and 17C documents to the court.

Based on the court’s instructions, district election authorities led by the Collector Yasmeen Basha tried to open the strongrooms in the presence of representatives of political parties. They managed to open one strongroom but found the keys for the other two missing. When the officials tried to break open the rooms, Laxman Kumar objected and asked the officials to get permission from the court.

Earlier, as officials, politicians and media persons gathered in front of the strongrooms, a swarm of honey bees attacked them, forcing them to run helter-skelter. A few people were injured in the bee attack.