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London: In a shocking claim, a self-proclaimed US-based cyber expert on Monday alleged that BJP leader Gopinath Munde was murdered in 2014 because 'he knew about electronic voting machines (EVM) hacking'. Addressing a press conference in London via Skype, Syed Shuja, the expert who claims to have designed the EVMs used in India, also claimed that the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections were rigged.

The event, which took place in London, was organised by the Indian Journalists' Association (Europe) and attended by senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal. Notably, the Election Commission of India has always maintained that the EVMs used in India cannot be tampered with.

The BJP has rejected the expert's claim that the 2014 General Election was rigged and called his allegation as a "hacking horror show organised" by the Congress. Meanwhile, the Congress said charges made at the event are serious. "I can't vouch for them, can't deny it either," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India issued a statement, calling the UK hackathon event a "motivated slugfest". EVMs are foolproof in nature, reiterated the EC.



EVM hackathon in London: Here are the sensational claims made by Syed Shuja:

It is not possible to hack a machine using Bluetooth. A graphite-based transmitter is required to get into an EVM. The transmitters were used in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, said expert Syed Shuja.

The expert has claimed that someone was pinging the EVMs to manipulate data. He added that successive chief election commissioners have told him that EVMs cannot communicate wirelessly. However, "our tech allows you to do it using a modulator at low frequency at 7hz". This is a military grade frequency.

He claimed that he met a BJP leader in 2014 who knew about this. He further alleged that his team members were killed in an attack after they approached the BJP leader. Gopinath Munde was aware of hacking and he was murdered as he was about to "expose" the government, claimed the expert. Munde, the leader from Maharashtra, had died in a road accident in June 2014. ​

​ The expert also claimed that they stopped the transmission in Delhi and the elections were won by the Aam Aadmi Party. In Delhi Assembly Elections, the transmission initiated by the BJP IT was intercepted. "We changed the frequency to favour AAP. The actual results were similar to 2009."

The expert said they even tried to intercept the low-frequency transmission. He added that the BJP IT has a prototype and when challenged, they "use a machine that even we can't hack".

The "entire" 2014 Lok Sabha Elections were "rigged", claimed Syed Shuja. he also alleged that elections in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat were also rigged.

Syed Shuja alleged that slain journalist Gauri Lankesh had agreed to run the story for him, but she was murdered. Lankesh was killed after she filed an RTI to know who manufactured cables used in the EVMs, he claimed.

Syed Shuja alleged that Reliance Communications aided the BJP to get low-frequency signals to hack EVMs. “Reliance Communications have the network to transmit the data, BJP is the beneficiary. There are nine places in India where there are facilities. The employees don’t know that they are tampering with EVMs. They think they are doing data entry,” he claimed.

Who is Syed Shuja?

Not much information is available on the man who claimed to have designed the Electronic Voting Machines that are used in India. At the press conference in London today, Shuja said that he is a former employee of the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).

The EVMs in India are manufactured in the ECIL in Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru under very strict conditions. The ECIL had received orders for 1.91 lakh ballot units and 1.25 lakh controlling units for the purpose of 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

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