MUMBAI: Amidst the growing allegations of manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines, a video created a buzz in Maharashtra which showed a man claiming that he could hack the EVMs by isolating machine frequency. While the Election Commission has denied the claims as baseless, it has also registered a complaint with the Mumbai cyber police in this regard.
In the viral video, a man on a video call explains how he can allegedly manipulate and tamper the EVMs in the Maharashtra elections and the charges required for this. He states that he has ‘access’ to 281 out of 288 seats, though he adds that “frequency isolation is not possible” in some regions. He also mentioned that Rs 52-53 crore will be charged for allegedly ensuring victory in 63 seats.
“I need someone to carry a phone and access a particular application that will scan the area and come up with which frequency we can isolate. Police radios use one frequency and EVMs match nearly the same frequency. I need to isolate that so that it is not intercepted,” he can be heard saying in the video.
As the video created buzz on the social media, the EC issued a clarification saying labelling all the allegations as baseless. “A video was shared by some Social media users where a person is making false, baseless and unsubstantiated claims to hack and tamper EVMs in Maharashtra elections by isolation of EVM frequency,” the Maharashtra CEO’s office said.
The FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act at Cyber Police Station, Dakshin Mumbai on November 30 ‘against the person in this video,’ the CEO said.
“The poll body stressed that the EVM is a standalone machine that cannot be connected to any network, be it Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. "Therefore, the question of manipulating EVMs does not arise. EVMs are completely tamper-proof. The Hon'ble Supreme Court on multiple occasions has reposed their faith in EVMs. Election Commission of India has already published detailed FAQs on its website to clear any doubts and myths on EVMs,” the CEO’s office said.
EC officials have identified the man as Syed Shuja. “An FIR was registered against the same person in 2019 in Delhi in a similar incident. The accused is hiding in another country,” it said.
The video has appeared at a time when the defeated Opposition candidates have raised questions over polling through the EVMs. Several defeated candidates Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have approached the EC demanding counting of VVPAT slips. They include Sharad Pawar’s grand nephew Yugendra Pawar, who lost against his uncle Ajit Pawar by the margin of over one lakh votes. Yugendra has filed an application seeking verification of microcontrollers of EVM sets used in his constituency.
