New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Election Commission suspended its poll observer in Odisha's Sambalpur who inspected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter. Reports citing officials privy to the matter claimed that the observer violated the laid norms which prohibit inspecting SPG protectees. Here it is to be noted that the official, learnt to be Karnataka-cadre IAS Mohammed Mohsin, had attempted to check the convoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had arrived in Sambalpur on Tuesday to address a rally organised by the BJP state unit.
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Notably, the Congress had registered a complaint on Sunday with the Election Commission after allegedly spotting a "black trunk" moved out of the chopper of PM Modi after he landed in Karnataka's Chitradurga on April 9.Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma asked the Prime Minister to come clean and said the Election Commission should inquire into the contents of the "trunk". According to the party, they suspect cash being illegally transferred by Modi in the poll-bound region. An order issued by the Commission on Tuesday said, general observer for Sambalpur, Mohammad Mohsin, acted in violation of existing instructions of EC.
A source said "It has been laid down that SPG protectees are exempted from checking. He should have known the instruction being an observer. The reason for the suspension is a dereliction of duty,". The order exempting SPG protectees, including the PM, was issued in April 2014. An EC official said "Taking cognizance of the matter and based on available facts, the observer was placed under suspension and removed from the observer duty,".
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However it is worth mention here that the commission has now deputed Deputy Election Commissioner Dharmendra Sharma to visit Sambalpur to conduct a detailed inquiry and furnish a report in two days.