2 CCTVs black out again in Villupuram counting centre

CHENNAI: Live feed of the strongrooms, where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) used for the polling in Villupuram and Tindivanam Assembly segments were kept in the counting centre for Parliamentary constituency was down for nearly an hour from 7.28 am on Wednesday.

According to officials, the live feed from the CCTV cameras covering two out of the six sealed strongrooms in Arignar Anna Government Arts College in Villupuram interrupted due to thunder and storm in the morning hours.

“At about 7.58 am, monitors of the two strongrooms blacked out following thunderstorms. It was restored at about 8.10 am,” said an official, while agents of the political parties have also echoed the same. It was the second incident in the last couple of days in the counting centre and fourth across the state.

Sources said that though the officials manning the centre sought the permission of Collector-cum-District Electoral Officer C Palani to turn off the surveillance mechanism following thunderstorm during the early hours of the day, he responded negatively to avoid “unwanted attention.”

Meanwhile, VCK general secretary and sitting MP D Ravikumar filed a complaint with the Returning Officer regarding the incident and urged the authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure round the clock surveillance.

It may be recalled that live streaming of the strong rooms in the counting centre had been disturbed for nearly 30 minutes on last Friday due to power fluctuation.