The Election Commission has filed a police report against the man because he may hack EVMs

The complaint in the matter was filed by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra, alleging that the statements made by the accused, Syed Shuji, were false, baseless and unsubstantiated. File | Photo author: K. Murali Kumar

“Mumbai Cyber ​​Police has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against a man who claimed he could hack Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by isolating the frequency of the machine,” Election Commission (EC) officials said.

A complaint in this matter was filed by the Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra, alleging that the statements made by accused Syed Shuji were false, baseless and unsubstantiated.

An FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act at Dakshin Mumbai’s cyber police station on November 30 “against the person in this video,” the director general said.

The EC’s decision came after some social media users shared a video of a man claiming that he was able to hack and tamper with EVMs in Maharashtra elections by isolating the frequency of the machine.

“In a similar incident involving false statements, an FIR was lodged on the direction of the Election Commission against the same person in Delhi in 2019 who is absconding in another country,” the Maharashtra CEO’s office said in a statement on X.

Delhi and Mumbai police are actively investigating the matter and are taking necessary steps to identify and arrest anyone in India who is in contact with “such persons” or is involved in these “malicious activities,” an EC spokesman said.

“Such actions are a serious offense and no one involved will be hurt,” the official said.

The European Commission says EVMs are stand-alone machines that cannot be connected to any network, including Wi-Fi or bluetooth. It is also emphasized that EVMs are completely tamper-proof. The Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected EVMs.