Congress candidate from Kanke Assembly constituency, Suresh Baitha, on Tuesday pointed to what he called loopholes in the electronic surveillance system of the strongroom in Pandra market in the state capital where EVMs of seven Assembly constituencies of the district have been kept.
These seven seats voted in the first three phases of the ongoing Jharkhand Assembly elections, the votes for which will be counted on Sunday.
“Yesterday (Monday) I got a complaint from the counting agent about loopholes in the electronic surveillance,” Baitha said. “He told me that the CCTV footage feed was not coming in the room where he was given space to watch the strongroom. When I talked to administrative official an alternative was arranged by late evening. Today (Tuesday) afternoon I got information about normalisation of the service.
“This is very serious,” he added. “If there is a system for electronic surveillance it should work properly.”
Ranchi deputy development commissioner Annay Mittal accepted there was a glitch. “The matter is being blown out of proportion,” Mittal said. “The electronic surveillance is alright. What had become faulty was the system through which the feed was being sent to the LED screen installed in the room where counting agents of different political parties are staying to keep vigil on the strongroom.
“The technical problem took place in a wire due to the rain. It was repaired. Counting agents were provided footage of the duration during which the feed could be sent to the LED screen of their room,” Mittal added.
He said he would soon talk to all candidates and clarify the situation. “As many as 23 CCTV cameras have been installed for electronic surveillance,” Mittal said. “All are working properly and recording of each moment is going on and display in the control room is also up to the mark. There is nothing to worry about the security of EVMs.”
EVMs from Ranchi, Hatia, Silli, Mandar, Tamar, Kanke and Ichagarh are in the room.