Jagtial Collector informs the HC that key of strong room is missing

Hyderabad: In an election petition challenging the election of minister Koppula Eshwar, Jagtial district collector Yasmin Basha submitted to the High Court that they could not open the strong rooms where the electronic voting machines of the 2018 Dharmapuri Assembly constituency election were kept, as the keys were misplaced.

The collector informed the court that the Congress contestant from Dharmapuri, Adluri Laxman, who is the petitioner in the case, did not agree to the officials breaking the lock of the strong room.

The EVMs were kept in VRK College. Out of the three strong rooms, officials had the key to one of them. The collector sought directions of the court, which adjourned the matter to Wednesday.

Laxman had filed the petition alleging that Eshwar, who won by a thin margin of 441 votes, was declared elected with malpractices in the counting.