Case with 48 Votes: Election Official Disputes Media Reporting in Waikar-related Case

In response to press claims that Ravindra Waikar's kin had tampered with the EVM, a poll official asserted that the EVM is a stand-alone device that may be unlocked without an OTP.

In response to accusations of a suspected phone connection between an EVM and the Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency, Vandana Suryavanshi, the returning officer for that seat, held a news conference on Sunday. 

"An OTP is not required to unlock the EVM as it is a stand-alone system. In a press conference on Sunday, Suryavanshi stated, "We have given notice to the newspaper under sections 499, 505 of the Indian Penal Code for defamation and spreading false news." The EVM is a non-programmable device with no wireless connection capabilities, according to an official announcement. 

When queried about Dinesh Gurav's gadget being found with Waikar's detained relative, the poll worker remained silent. An FIR was filed in the same instance on Wednesday against Dinesh Gurav, an ENCORE operator with the ECI.

Suryavanshi said that in order to access the ENCORE system, an ECI data compilation system, an OTP is necessary.

"Once the police investigation is done, then ECI will look into it," Suryavanshi responded when asked what steps the ECI is doing in relation to the probe.

According to a media source, during the June 4 vote counting, the relatives of Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Waikar—who won by a razor-thin margin of 48 votes—were allegedly utilizing a cell phone that was linked to an electronic voting machine.

According to a police official on Saturday, Mangesh Pandilkar, Waikar's brother-in-law, was charged on Wednesday for allegedly using a cell phone at a counting center on June 4, the day the results of the general elections were declared.

According to an officer from the Vanrai police station, Pandlikar's charge was filed about his claimed actions inside a counting center in Goregaon, which is inside Waikar's constituency.

According to the official, Pandilkar has been charged with violating an official order under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.