# India

EVM hacking: EC asks Delhi Police to lodge FIR against London hacker Syed Shuja

A senior EC official said on Monday evening, “ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about foolproof nature of the ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India. Whereas, ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest, ECI maintains that its EVMs are foolproof.”

SNS | New Delhi | January 22, 2019 5:38 pm

EVM hacking: EC asks Delhi Police to lodge FIR against London hacker Syed Shuja

A day after Syed Shuja, a US-based man arranged an ‘EVM hackathon’ to ‘prove’ that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be hacked, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the Delhi Police, requesting it to lodge an FIR and investigate the claims made by Shuja during an event organized in London.

“Through media reports, it has come to the notice of the commission that allegedly one Mr Syed Shuja claimed (at the event in London) that he was part of the EVM design team and he can hack the EVMs used in elections in India,” Election Commission of India wrote to Delhi Police.

Sheyphali Sharan, the official spokesperson, Election Commission of India said in a tweet, “As follow up action ECI has written to DCP New Delhi District to lodge an FIR & investigate the matter promptly for violation of Dec 505 (1) (b) of PIC.”

As follow up action, ECI has written to DCP New Delhi District to lodge an FIR & investigate the matter promptly for violation of Dec 505 (1) (b) of PIC@PIB_India @airnewsalerts @DDNewsLive @PIBHindi pic.twitter.com/zEYsRJpguQ

— Sheyphali Sharan (@SpokespersonECI) January 22, 2019

Soon after Syed Shuja had made the claims the Election Commission of India (ECI) vehemently denied any possibility of tampering with the EVMs.

Rubbishing his claims, a senior EC official had said on Monday evening, “ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about foolproof nature of the ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India. Whereas ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest, ECI maintains that its EVMs are foolproof.”

The Election Body said it was examining legal action against those trying to engage EC into “this motivated slugfest” adding that the EVMs were manufactured at the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) under very strict supervisory and security conditions.

Addressing a press conference via video conference, Shuja made several explosive allegations regarding EVM tampering during 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.