New Delhi: Just before the Lok Sabha elections 2019 results, organised groups and political rivals have started rumour mongering of EVM tampering on social media websites. Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a man who was allegedly circulating false information about EVM across the country leading to tension in several locations.

According to the police, social media accounts and several political pages are being used by miscreants for rumour mongering at a large scale to disrupt the electoral process. Azamgarh police have apprehended a man who has affiliation with Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) as he had posted several posts on Facebook about EVM manhandling.

Similar information was widely circulated on social media since Monday giving political parties an issue for confrontation with the Election Commission (EC). The Election Commission has clarified that reports of EVMs being transported without security in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are “baseless” and have urged people to keep faith in the poll commission.

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Azamgarh Police on Tuesday tracked several posts circulating fake information about the EVM. The cyber team of Azamgarh has arrested a man identified as Umesh Gautam who was involved in spreading such posts with false information. “The accused was involved in sharing fake information about EVM manhandling. We verified his post and found it to be fake, the content he posted could have caused unrest between the political parties and also questioned electoral process,” said Triveni Singh, police superintendent Azamgarh.

Police sources told MyNation that several accounts and pages are being used to circulate the narrative of EVM tampering soon after exit poll results were out which indicated that BJP would be back in a commanding position.

The Lok Sabha election results will be out on May 23. Political parties have already started talking about EVM hacking and tampering without providing any scientific backing to their allegations.

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“We are tracking all the misinformation being circulated on the net which can be misused to disturb the peace. A dedicated team is monitoring EVM related content which is being verified by the authorities,” Singh said.