Surprisingly, a Bengal election officer who claims he slept overnight with an electronic voting machine (EVM) at the home of his relative, a Trinamool Congress leader, has been suspended by the Election Commission.

The EVM and VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) will not be used in the polls, the election body said this morning. The EVM and VVPAT machines were taken to the house of the TMC leader by Tapan Sarkar, the deputed officer for Howrah’s Sector 17 in AC 177 Uluberia Uttar. The politician is reportedly his relative.

 Sarkar has been suspended and the reserved EVM machine has been removed from the election process, the Election Commission said on Tuesday morning.

Charges will now be framed against the official and other involved in the incident, authorities said.

“This is a gross violation of Election Commission of India’s instructions for which the Sector Officer has been suspended and charges will be framed for major punishment. The sector police attached to the officer have also been directed to be suspended,” the EC said in a statement.

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