Hyderabad: The software engineer who exposed how electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be tampered with has been arrested by the Maharashtra police — for allegedly stealing one.
But Hyderabad-based Hari Prasad's supporters said it was a ploy of the Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra governments to divert attention from the discrepancies he found, especially at a time when many parties were demanding EVMs be scrapped.
Prasad has been charged with stealing an EVM from the collector's office in Mumbai. The complaint was lodged on May 13.
The accused is unfazed and would file for bail on Thursday on medical grounds. "I have no regrets. I will take the battle further," he said.
His lawyer, Kalyan Rameshwar, said Prasad had been charged with tampering etc. and they would fight the charges.
On a TV show four months ago, Prasad and his team of two foreign experts demonstrated how EVMs could be hacked by altering minute components.
This sparked uproar in Andhra Pradesh and political parties forced the Election Commission to look into Prasad's findings.
"We met Chief Election Commissioner Dr S.Y. Quraishi and told him that on one hand we are being invited for a discussion and on the other we are being intimidated by the police," said V.V. Rao, Prasad's colleague.
"Prasad has been working with me for the last one and a half years to make EVMs tamper-proof. Instead of being appreciated, they are going into formalities," Rao added.
The Maharashtra police claim the serial number of the machine shown in the TV show matches with the one missing from the collectorate office.
While Prasad's family has remained tightlipped on his arrest, his colleagues said they would take legal recourse.
Citizen forums, meanwhile, accused the Andhra Pradesh government of trying to divert focus with Prasad's arrest when it should be verifying his findings.