Late on Saturday night, a protest broke out outside the Madurai Medical College following a serious case of security breach at a counting centre in the city.
CPI(M) Lok Sabha candidate Su Venkatesan was alerted on Saturday evening that officials had entered a room without security clearance to access poll-related documents. Samboornam, a Tahsildar, along with three male officers had reportedly spent over three hours inside the room between 3.15 pm and 6.15 pm on Saturday. It was also reported that two officers had taken out documents for photocopying them.
Speaking to TNM, Su Venkatesan said, “We will be filing a formal complaint asking that the matter be looked into urgently.”
The incident was verified by CCTV footage from the building, following which the woman Tahsildar and the three officers were suspended. An inquiry has been ordered by District Election Officer and Madurai Collector S Natarajan.
Su Venkatesan had confirmed to The Hindu that of the six rooms in which documents related to the six Assembly segments were kept, only the one related to Madurai West was left unsealed.
A delayed response from authorities angered those gathered outside which resulted in a law and order situation around 9.00 pm on Saturday. DEO Natarajan later arrived and pacified those gathered.
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) Lok Sabha candidate K David Annadurai too expressed concern over the incident. “The election officials should conduct a detailed enquiry to convince us that they were not favouring the ruling party,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
Admitting that the unusual entry by an officer without prior permission from the DEO was a case of security concern, Natarajan, however, stated that there were no breaches in the rooms where the EVMs and VVPATs were kept. He later ordered all the rooms to be sealed.
Source: The News Minute