ECI probe on missing keys of strong room

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI), probing the issue of missing keys to strongrooms in the Dharmapuri Assembly constituency to retrieve EVMs, constituted a three-member committee led by Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj to look into the case.

Vikas Raj, accompanied by undersecretary Sanjay Kumar and joint secretary Ravi Kiran, met the then Jagtial collector A. Sharath, recently-transferred collector G. Ravi, incumbent collector Yasmeen Basha, additional collectors Aruna Sri and Rajesham, and returning officer Bikshapati, in a bid to locate the keys.

The probe comes after Congress candidate Adluri Laxman Kumar approached the High Court over alleged irregularities in the counting of votes, given that BRS candidate Koppula Eshwar beat him by 441 votes in the 2018 polls.

Following the High Court directive, officials went to retrieve EVMs on April 10, but could not locate the keys to the strongrooms. After the same was informed to the court, it directed the ECI to conduct a probe.