NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) has filed a complaint leading to an FIR against Syed Shuja, who claimed he could hack electronic voting machines (EVMs) by isolating their frequency. Mumbai Cyber Police registered the case on November 30 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and IT Act, officials said.
The Maharashtra chief electoral officer (CEO) lodged the complaint, terming Shuja’s claims as “false, baseless and unsubstantiated.” The FIR was filed at the Cyber Police Station in Dakshin Mumbai.
The Election Commission’s action follows a viral video where Shuja claimed he could tamper with EVMs used in Maharashtra elections. Officials confirmed that Shuja had made similar allegations in 2019, prompting another FIR filed in Delhi.
“In a similar incident involving false claims, an FIR was lodged on the direction of the Election Commission against the same person in 2019 in Delhi who is hiding in some another country,” the Maharashtra CEO’s office stated in a post on X.
Delhi and Mumbai police are investigating and working to identify individuals in contact with Shuja or involved in “malicious activities.”
The EC reiterated that EVMs are standalone, tamper-proof devices and cannot connect to networks like WiFi or Bluetooth. The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed its confidence in EVMs.