The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the State government to investigate the poll-related incidents will focus on the damaging of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the Macherla Assembly constituency in Palnadu district.
In a video footage that went viral, the YSRCP MLA and contestant, Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, was seen entering Palvai Gate Polling Station No.202, which the Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared as a critical station, with his followers and smashing the EVM by flinging it on the ground during polling on May 13.
Following the directions of the ECI, the State government constituted the SIT on May 18, after initiating action against the Palnadu Collector and the Superintendent of Police.
The SIT, headed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Special Investigation Bureau (SIB), Vineet Brijlal, and the sub-teams visited the violence-hit areas in Palnadu, Anantapur and Tirupati districts and observed negligence in filing and probing the poll-related violence cases.
The SIT will now focus on the Macherla incident, which is among the 33 poll-related violence cases filed across the State.
The Palnadu district police and the SIT teams will observe the CCTV and video footages, record the statements of the polling staff, and the security personnel deployed at the polling station besides looking into the timeline of the incidents.
The investigation officers will also verify the sections under which the case was booked, the persons involved, the arrests made so far and the status of the investigation of the case.
Published - May 24, 2024 06:45 pm IST
