Jr engineer goes missing with EVM in UP, case registered

The additional EVM was later seized by the police from the office of the junior engineer identified as Mahesh Agrawal and returned to the district administration, they said. Agrawal was deployed at a polling station in Salempur area.

A junior engineer of the development authority here went missing with an electronic voting machine (EVM) during the bypoll held on the Sadar Assembly seat in the district, an official said on Wednesday. The additional EVM was later seized by the police from the office of the junior engineer identified as Mahesh Agrawal and returned to the district administration, they said.

Agrawal was deployed at a polling station in Salempur area. He along with the sector magistrate was sent there with an additional EVM on Tuesday. However, when Agrawal failed to turn up at the polling station, a search was launched by the police. The junior engineer's house was raided on Tuesday night but he was not found there while his mobile phone was switched off, police said.

A case was filed against Agrawal, police said, adding that the additional EVM was finally recovered from his office on Wednesday. According to police, Agrawal has not been arrested yet and the matter is being probed.