The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has said that it will investigate whether there was any misappropriation of state funds in the purchase of "low-quality electronic voting machines" (EVMs) seven years ago.
The ACC will also look into why experts, including Professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, considered the machines appropriate for voting at the time, despite the allegations of financial waste.
On Monday, the ACC's Director General (Prevention), Md Akhtar Hossain, informed the media about the commission's decision.
He said: "In light of the allegations regarding the purchase of substandard EVMs, the ACC's Enforcement Unit conducted a raid at the Election Commission office on Sunday. Upon reviewing related records, it was found that the purchased EVMs are stored at the Election Commission's main office, 10 regional offices, and the BMTAF. During the raid, the relevant Election Commission officials were unable to provide information on the whereabouts of 1,599 machines."
Regarding the raid, he said that the EVMs were found neglected.
Of the 618 machines stored at the main office, a random check of several machines showed mechanical defects, suggesting that they were of low quality.
The experts present with the ACC team also agreed that the EVMs were not up to standard.
In 2018, the Election Commission launched the EVM project with a cost of Tk3,825 crore.
Each machine was purchased at a cost of Tk2.35 lakh.
Although their lifespan was expected to be at least 10 years, many machines broke down before that.
After the change of power on August 5, the current Election Commission announced it would no longer use EVMs.
