Mumbai MP Waikar's kin booked for using phone to 'unlock EVM'; Opposition says EC 'refused to share CCTV footage'

The brother-in-law of newly elected Mumbai North West Lok Sabha MP Ravindra Waikar was booked for allegedly using a mobile phone at a counting centre on June 4 – when the Lok Sabha Election results 2024 were announced, a police official said on Saturday.

A case was filed against Waikar's kin Mangesh Pandilkar on Wednesday for his alleged act inside a counting centre in Goregaon, which is part of Waikar's constituency.

"Pandilkar was booked on the complaint of polling personnel Dinesh Gurav. An independent candidate noticed the former using a mobile phone despite a ban on such devices at the counting centre and alerted the returning officer. The RO, in turn, approached Vanrai police," the official was quoted by PTI as saying.

Pandilkar was booked under Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobeying official order), the official added. 

Ravindra Waikar, a Shiv Sena candidate,

Several reports emerged on Sunday, claiming that Mangesh Pandilkar was using the phone, which was connected to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). cited police as saying that this mobile phone was used for generating the OTP that unlocked the EVM machine.

The incident reportedly occurred inside the NESCO Centre during the counting of votes for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat on June 4.

As per the report, the police sent the mobile phone to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to find the mobile phone data and call records. "We are also checking if the mobile phone was used for any other reason," Vanrai police official was quoted by Mid-day as saying.

A clip of the Mid-day article went viral on Sunday, which many opposition leaders questioning the "transparency in our electoral process".

said the EVMs in India are a "black box," and "nobody is allowed to