Maharashtra: EVM machine stolen from Pune's Saswad, police forms team to nab culprits

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Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, an electronic voting machine (EVM) has been stolen from Tahsildar's office at Saswad in Pune, the police said, according to the PTI.

Unidentified men allegedly stole the control unit of an electronic voting machine (EVM) and some stationery from the office of a revenue official in Maharashtra's Pune district, police said on Tuesday, as per the PTI.

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A CCTV footage of the theft has surfaced on social media.

The incident occurred at the office of a tehsildar in Saswad on February 3, an official said.

"The control unit of an EVM machine and some paper reels were stolen. We have deployed teams to nab the three men involved in the theft," Superintendent of Police Pune Rural Pankaj Deshmukh said.

A case has been registered at Saswad police station, he said.

Meanwhile, in an another incident, the Juhu police arrested a 22-year-old accused who along with a minor arrived on a motorcycle, snatched a mobile phone of a passer-by, and fled from the spot. The incident occurred on January 25 at around 12.30 am. The police said that in order to avoid being captured on the CCTV cameras, the accused was speeding at a speed of more than 80-90 kmph at every point where CCTV cameras are installed. The cops scanned more than 150 CCTV cameras and eventually nabbed the accused from the Govandi area.

The accused, Mohsin Leek Ansari, alias Chikna, 20, and a 17-year-old minor, are both residents of Govandi. Chikna has been arrested more than 12 times in Mumbai and Pune for snatching mobile phones. He has criminal cases at Juhu, Dharavi, Kalachowki, Naupada, Govandi, Trombay, Shivaji Nagar, Pimpri Chinchwad, Hinjawadi, Mankhurd, and Tilak Nagar police stations. The police also seized other mobile phones and a bike worth a total of Rs 1.5 lakh from the accused.

Under the guidance of DCP Krishnakant Upadhyay and Juhu police station's senior police inspector Sunil Jadhav, a team of API Vijay Dhotre, API Ganesh Jain, PSI Todankar, and Pathkane started a technical investigation with the help of CCTV footage. They were able to identify the accused as he sped away with the complainant's mobile phone, with only the yellow colour of the bike and the white-coloured pants of the person sitting behind visible. The images were blurred due to the speed of the bike.

The police followed the accused from Juhu to Dharavi-Kurla-Amar Mahal Junction-Chembur railway station. The minor accused got down near the Shivaji Nagar Bridge and later took the route to PMGP Colony, Mankhurd railway station, via RC Main Gate, and went to Cheetah Camp via Trombay police station. After examining the CCTV footage, the police arrested both of the accused.

(with PTI inputs)