Election Commission suspends poll official for inspecting Modi’s helicopter

The Election Commission has suspended an officer, posted as a general observer in Odisha, after he ordered the checking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter on Tuesday, April 16.

According to The Hindu, the suspension came after the poll body sent a one-man enquiry team to Odisha to investigate the matter. “According to the ECI order, the official, Mohammed Mohsin…had not acted in conformity with the ECI’s instructions that have made an exception for SPG protectees like the Prime Minister,” the report stated. It also cited EC’s April 16 order as saying: “The Election Commission has considered the material available before it and prima facie finds it as a dereliction of duty.”

Mohsin is a Karnataka cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Services deputed as a special observer.

According to The Hindu, poll officials have been conducting surprise checks on vehicles of prominent leaders for the past few days in different cities, with “flying squads” investigating whether anything cash or other suspicious material is being carried.

Modi had addressed a rally in Sambalpur on Tuesday.