Almost two years ago, an electronic voting machine (EVM) was installed. stolen from the tehsildar’s office in Pune’s Purandar taluka ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A team of Pune Rural Police swung into action, arrested the thieves and recovered the stolen EVM. But the incident, the first of its kind in Maharashtra, turned out to be an eye-opener for the government and police machinery.
The weekend robbery
According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at Saswad police station by Santosh Sanap, Naib Tehsildar, Purandar, the EVM worth Rs 18,500 was stolen on February 5, 2024. The complaint stated that the lock of the strong room of the tehsildar’s office was found to be broken that morning. When government officials checked the vault, one of the EVMs kept in it was missing.
The tehsildar office’s CCTV cameras had allegedly captured images of three men committing the robbery on the night of Saturday, February 3. It was also learned that a police officer and a house guard deployed on duty were not at the scene when the robbery occurred.
Shortly after the theft came to light, senior police and government officials arrived. Pune He visited the crime scene and a search was launched.
Police teams led by Inspector Avinash Shilimkar of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) scanned the CCTV cameras installed in a 27-km area and found that the accused had gone to the Saswad-Malshiras area on a motorcycle.
Arrests and the surprising discovery
Following suit, the officers initially arrested two men – Shivaji Bandgar alias Bhaiyya and Ajinkya Salunkhe, both from Purandar – and recovered the stolen EVM from them. Later, another accused was arrested in this case, police said, adding that the EVM was not damaged. Investigators believe the defendants had no intention of stealing the voting machine.
Vinod Mahangade, who was then assistant police inspector at Saswad police station, said investigation revealed that the accused wanted to steal money from the treasury room of the tehsildar’s office. “Instead, they broke into the strongroom and took away an EVM. Stealing an EVM from a government office was indeed a serious crime. The police quickly arrested them and solved the case,” he added.
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A police officer said the accused claimed to have stolen the briefcase-style box containing the voting machine thinking it contained money. The police also suspected that the accused was drunk at the time of committing the crime.
The EVMs were at the tehsildar’s office since December 2023 for training and voter awareness sessions ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. (Representative image)
Denied bail, the three accused arrested in the case remain in prison. “A case has been filed against them. The matter is before a Pune court,” Inspector Shilimkar, nominated for the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Service, said ahead of the 77th Republic Day celebrations.
Major gaps in security arrangements
Meanwhile, it is learned that the EVMs were at the tehsildar’s office since December 2023 for training and voter awareness sessions ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. A total of 40 EVMs were placed in the vault. Government officials and police were expected to follow strict security protocols at the site.
However, the EVM theft exposed major holes in security measures at the tehsildar’s office. A subsequent investigation led to the suspension of a police guard for negligence.
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Taking serious note of the incident, the Election Commission of India (ECI) directed the Maharashtra chief secretary to seek an explanation from the district collector and superintendent of police (SP) for not maintaining security protocols in the strong room where the EVMs were stored.
Following a communication from the ECI, a sub-divisional officer, a tehsildar and a sub-divisional police officer of Purandar were also suspended, which was later quashed by the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT).
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