VIJAYAWADA: YSRCP legislator Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy is on the run after being charged with destroying a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machine inside a polling booth in Macharla constituency on May 13, when all of Andhra Pradesh’s 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats went to the polls.
CCTV footage, which has now gone viral, shows the Macharla MLA picking up a VVPAT machine and hurling it to the ground at Palvai Gate polling station in the constituency.EC said EVMs were vandalised in seven centres in Macharla on polling day and has asked state DGP Harish Kumar Gupta to initiate strict action against the offenders.
EC has taken serious note of the EVM destruction cases. Chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar has directed AP chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena to initiate stringent action against the offenders.
A total of nine EVMs were destroyed on polling day, out of which seven cases were reported in Palnadu district alone. “One of the candidates himself can be seen in CCTV footage engaging in violence and destroying the EVM. Cases have been registered under 10 criminal sections against the MLA. Police teams are searching for him, and the arrest will be confirmed shortly,” he said.
On the delay in identifying the accused, he said all the evidence was promptly given to the police. “However, the police took time to act on the information. Individ uals involved in other EVM destruction cases have also been identified. Cases have been filed against them, and some have already been arrested,” Meena said.
Local police, without checking the footage that shows Pinnelli destroying the EVM, had registered an FIR stating that “unknown persons trespassed into the polling station, caused damage of control unit & VVPAT”.
Police have sounded high alert across Palnadu district fearing violence following the possible arrest of the MLA. Section 144 is already in force and additional forces are being roped in to man sensitive areas in the district.
CCTV footage, which has now gone viral, shows the Macharla MLA picking up a VVPAT machine and hurling it to the ground at Palvai Gate polling station in the constituency.EC said EVMs were vandalised in seven centres in Macharla on polling day and has asked state DGP Harish Kumar Gupta to initiate strict action against the offenders.
EC has taken serious note of the EVM destruction cases. Chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar has directed AP chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena to initiate stringent action against the offenders.
A total of nine EVMs were destroyed on polling day, out of which seven cases were reported in Palnadu district alone. “One of the candidates himself can be seen in CCTV footage engaging in violence and destroying the EVM. Cases have been registered under 10 criminal sections against the MLA. Police teams are searching for him, and the arrest will be confirmed shortly,” he said.
On the delay in identifying the accused, he said all the evidence was promptly given to the police. “However, the police took time to act on the information. Individ uals involved in other EVM destruction cases have also been identified. Cases have been filed against them, and some have already been arrested,” Meena said.
Local police, without checking the footage that shows Pinnelli destroying the EVM, had registered an FIR stating that “unknown persons trespassed into the polling station, caused damage of control unit & VVPAT”.
Police have sounded high alert across Palnadu district fearing violence following the possible arrest of the MLA. Section 144 is already in force and additional forces are being roped in to man sensitive areas in the district.