EC appoints special officer to probe missing Dharmapuri assembly keys

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday appointed a special officer to probe the missing keys of the strongroom storing the electronic voting machines of the Dharmapuri Assembly constituency of 2018. The officer will reach the constituency on Monday and inquire about the keys.

The Congress had complained to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar to order a through inquiry into keys going missing. Congress candidate Adluri Laxman had lost the election to BRS (then TRS) candidate Koppula Eshwar by 441 votes, and approached the High Court seeking a recount.

Following the directives of the High Court, officials tried to open the strongroom last week but found the keys to one of the three strongrooms missing. At this, the Congress approached the ECI. The High Court is also hearing the case.