Army jawan held for demanding Rs 2.5 crore from Sena (UBT) leader to manipulate EVMs

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, May 8

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Police have arrested an Army jawan in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city after he allegedly demanded Rs 2.5 crore from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve for manipulating the EVMs, an official said.

Danve, the Leader of Opposition in the state legislative council, filed a written complaint with police after the accused, Maruti Dhakne (42), allegedly demanded the money from him to manipulate the electronic voting machines through a chip, claiming it helped a particular candidate to get more votes, the official said on Tuesday.

The accused made the claim in a bid to clear his debt. He knows nothing about the EVMs, the police said.

Around 4 pm on Tuesday, the accused met the Sena (UBT) leader’s younger brother Rajendra Danve in a hotel near the central bus stand here.

After talks, the deal was finalised at Rs 1.5 crore, the official said.

A police team in civil dress was already sent to the location based on information provided by Ambadas Danve.

The police caught the accused red-handed while he took Rs 1 lakh as a token amount from Rajendra Danve, the official said.

“The accused is facing a huge debt. He did this trick to get out his debt. He knows nothing about the machine (EVM). We have arrested him and a case has been registered at the Kranti Chowk police station here,” Police Commissioner Manoj Lohiya told reporters.

The case has been registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 511 (attempt to commit offence), another official said.

The accused is a resident of Pathardi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district and posted at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the police.