The Election Commission (EC) on Monday said seizures totaling more than Rs 1,000 crore have been reported so far in the ongoing Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, and by-elections in other states.
In a communiqué, the EC said enforcement agencies under it have seized over Rs 1,000 crore worth of cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and other inducements in the ongoing Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, and bye-polls in several other states.
“Overall Rs 858 crore worth of seizures have been reported for the states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which is seven times the seizures done during the last Assembly elections. In 2019 Assembly elections, Maharashtra recorded seizures worth Rs 103.61 crore while for Jharkhand it was Rs 18.76 crore,” the poll panel said.
In Maharashtra, seizures were recorded in all cohorts across all districts, much higher than previous assembly elections, it said.
“A few noteworthy operations included seizure of Rs 3.70 crore of cash from a suspicious jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar district. In another noteworthy incident, in Jamod Assembly seat of Buldhana district, 4,500 kg of ganja plants worth Rs 4.51 crore were seized. In Raigad, Rs 5.20 crore worth of silver bars were seized,” the EC said.
Referring to Jharkhand, the poll panel said the state also witnessed record seizures. In a single incident, Rs 2.26 crore worth of illegal mining material was seized in Rajmahal Assembly seat in Sahibganj district and many such actions included seizures related to illegal mining activities. In Daltonganj, 687 kg of poppy straw was seized, while in Hazaribagh 48.18 kg of Marijuana was seized.
Mentioning bye-elections, the EC said tightened vigil has resulted in significant seizures in all cohorts. Among big seizure incidents, in Rajasthan, 449 cartons of liquor consignment were seized at Nagaur while in transit from one neighbouring state to another.
The cartons were hidden behind many layers of boxes of potatoes.