Chennai: Two persons carrying EVMs and a VVPAT machine on a two-wheeler after the polling ended on Tuesday created a flutter in Velacheri in the city.
The duo was caught by motorists and passersby over suspicions of EVM theft and handed over to police.
Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said that as per their preliminary inquiry, the motorists were Corporation employees and the EVMs they were carrying were not the ones used for polling.
“Detailed inquiry is on. As per preliminary findings of the DEO, these two (machines) were not polled EVMs. We will take strict action on any violation of SOPs,” Sahoo said.
Corroborating the CEOs version, a senior police officer said that the machines were kept in the reserve and meant to be used only if any of the machines used for elections developed a technical snag.