Ahead of assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission of India has seized over Rs 651 crore worth of cash, liquor, drugs and freebies. West Bengal recorded the highest recoveries, followed by Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry
Representational image. File pic
With just a few days to go for the state assembly elections across 5 states, a total of Rs 319 crore worth of cash, liquor and other freebies have been seized by election flying squads and enforcement agencies in West Bengal till Sunday, an official said.
As reported by news agency IANS, among the five poll-bound states/UTs, Bengal tops the table for recovery of freebies (Rs 150 crore), liquor (Rs 55 crore), precious metal (Rs 39 crore) and cash (Rs 11 crore), which were allegedly being used for the inducement of electors.
Drugs worth Rs 65 crores seized from poll-bound states
The Election Commission of India (ECI) also stated that drugs valued at Rs 65 crore have been recovered from the state by law enforcers in the run-up to the two-phase elections on April 23 and 29, as per IANS.
ECI further added, “Out of the 29.63 lakh litres of liquor seized by poll officials in all five states/UTs, West Bengal accounts for the maximum of 21.29 lakh litres,” as per IANS.
4 crore cash seized from Assam
In Assam, the ECI said flying squads and surveillance teams have seized Rs 4 crore in cash in the state in the run-up to the election. Apart from cash, 6,84,627 litres of liquor, worth Rs 20 crore, have also been confiscated in Assam.
The ECI further said that drugs worth Rs 56 crore, precious metals worth Rs 4 crore and other freebies valued at Rs 13 crore have been seized in Assam till April 5.
The total value of freebies and contraband recovered in Assam so far is Rs 97 crore, said the ECI.
Contraband worth Rs 170 crore seized in Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, the total seizures have been worth Rs 170. This included Rs 67 crore seizure of drugs, Rs 63 crore worth of other freebies, Rs 30 crore cash, Rs 8 crore precious metal and Rs 2 crore liquor, as per IANS.
On the other hand, the ECI in Kerala has recovered a total of Rs 58 crore worth of inducement items. The seizure by the ECI includes Rs 41 crore worth of drugs, Rs 8 crore in cash, Rs 5 crore worth of other freebies, Rs 2 crore worth of liquor and Rs 1 crore worth of precious metal.
Seziures worth Rs 7 crore in Puducherry
In Puducherry, the recovery is worth Rs 7 crore, including Rs 6 crore of precious metal, Rs 20 lakh cash, Rs 30 lakh liquor and other freebies worth Rs 1 lakh, as per IANS.
In all, the enforcement agencies have seized illegal cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies worth more than Rs 651.5 crore from all the five election-bound states.
(With inputs from IANS)
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
