3 poll officials suspended in K’taka's Hassan over alleged ‘proxy voting’

Three polling officials accused of dereliction of duty on polling day during the Lok Sabha polls, have been suspended. This comes following a preliminary inquiry by Hassan District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis. 

The probe was ordered after the BJP alleged that these officers had allowed 30 supporters of PWD Minister and Holenarasipura MLA HD Revanna, to engage in proxy voting. 

Their suspension was reportedly ordered after the EC officials reviewed the CCTV footage.

The suspended officials are Yogesh, a polytechnic college lecturer along with Ramachandra Rao and DS Dinesh, who are both government high school teachers. The three were posted at a polling booth in Paduvalahippe village in Holenarasipura taluk.

Revanna’s son Prajwal is the JD(S) candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha seat which is a JD(S) stronghold. The outgoing MP and former PM, HD Deve Gowda had won from the seat five times.

The suspension of the three officers comes after Rs 1.2 lakh in cash was recovered from a police vehicle in Hassan by a flying squad of the Karnataka State Election Commission on April 16. 

A case was registered at the Holenarsipura Town Police Station under section 171-C (Undue influence at elections) of the Indian Penal Code in this connection.

IAS officer Munish Moudgil who was appointed as the Special Officer (Enforcement) by the Election Commission had asked for a high-level inquiry into the incident. 

The letter mentioned that the vehicle from which cash was recovered was a Toyota Innova with registration number KA01MH4477 and that it was registered under the name of Deputy Commissioner of Police, City Armed Reserve. 

Informed sources also said that the police vehicle was part of PWD Minister HD Revanna’s convoy.

“The said vehicle belongs to Bengaluru City Police and registered in the name of Deputy Commissioner of Police, CAR HQ, Bengaluru (copy of report from Transport Commissioner attached herewith),” Munish’s letter to the CEO read.

“The above incident is extremely serious as it, prima facie, reveals the use of police vehicle for carrying money for misuse in elections. Due to extreme seriousness, the case requires a proper investigation and everyone, including the police officers, who might be involved, are required to be brought out and law is taken to its logical conclusion against them,” it added.