Chandigarh, Feb 23 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded strict security arrangements at strong rooms in various parts of Punjab where EVMs have been kept after assembly polls were held on February 20.

AAP's senior leader and party's Punjab affairs co-incharge Raghav Chadha on Wednesday wrote to the State Chief Electoral Officer alleging "gross violation" of the guidelines formulated by the Election Commission on security arrangements at strong rooms.

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Counting of votes will be held on March 10.

Polled EVMs have been kept in strong rooms at 66 locations while three-tier security has been deployed there for keeping a strict vigil round the clock, officials had said earlier.

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Chadha urged the election officer to take all possible steps to ensure the complete safety of electronic voting machines across the state.

In the letter, he requested expeditious issuance of directions "in order to immediately arrange effective, robust, and adequate three-layer security arrangements, under your tight vigil, including the deployment of paramilitary forces among other necessary force, to ensure all possible steps to safeguard complete safety and security of the EVMs across the state of Punjab.."

The AAP demanded the installation of cameras in and around the strong rooms and providing online links to all candidates for round-the-clock surveillance.

In the letter, Chadha named certain centres where the EVMS are stored and alleged that there was no presence of paramilitary force and no security observation of the strong room through CCTV cameras there.

"There is poor lighting arrangement inside and outside the strong room, and no CCTV cameras have been installed at the spot," wrote Chadha.

He mentioned in his letter that one of the postulates of free and fair elections is to safeguard the safety and security of the EVMs across the polling state.

The AAP leader demanded three-layer security arrangements, including the deployment of para-military forces in order to effectively guard the inner and outer circle of the strong rooms across the state of Punjab.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)