This story is from May 7, 2019

Lok Sabha elections 2019: EVMs & VVPAT seized from a hotel in Muzaffarpur, probe ordered

Muzaffarpur DM Alok Ranjan Ghosh on Tuesday served a show -cause notice to a sector magistrate for his negligence of keeping the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and VVPAT into a hotel here while the voting for Lok Sabha elections in Muzaffarpur parliamentary constituency was underway on May 6.
Lok Sabha elections 2019: EVMs & VVPAT seized from a hotel in Muzaffarpur, probe ordered
Recovered EVMs and its peripherals from a hotel on poll day on Monday.
By Ajay Kumar Pandey
MUZAFFARPUR:DM Alok Ranjan Ghosh on Tuesday served a show -cause notice to a sector magistrate for his negligence of keeping the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and VVPATs at a hotel here while the voting for Lok Sabha elections in Muzaffarpur parliamentary constituency was underway on May 6.
The action was taken after recovery of two EVMs and VVPATs from a hotel near a polling booth, which has triggered a hue and cry among booth workers on Monday evening.

According to sources, sector magistrate Avdesh Kumar was in-charge of 4 EVMs in Muzaffarpur, which were kept as a backup option in case any machine malfunctioned in the area.
After coming out of a polling booth in Muzaffarpur on Monday evening, the officer's driver excused himself to exercise his franchise at a nearby polling booth. At that tims Avdesh got down at a nearby hotel with the EVMs, VVPATs and a control unit.
Soon the news of a polling officer carrying EVMs is in the hotel, reached to the parties’ agents at the polling booth, they raised questions and started the protest.
After getting information, sub-divisional officer Kundan Kumar reached the hotel and seized the EVMs and VVPATs.

DM Ghosh said, "Sector officer was given some reserved machines so that it could be replaced with faulty ones. After replacing EVMs he was left with 2 balloting units, 1 control unit and 2 VVPATs in his car. He shouldn't have unloaded the machines in the hotel which is against rules. Since he has violated the rules a departmental investigation will be done."
“The concerned officer, Avdesh Kumar, has been issued a show cause notice to justify why he took the machines to a hotel,” he added.
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