Seizures cross Rs 1,000 crore mark in ongoing elections, bypolls: Election Commission

New Delhi | The Election Commission on Monday said seizures from Jharkhand, Maharashtra and the various bypoll-going constituencies have crossed the Rs 1,082-crore mark.

In Maharashtra and Jharkhand, seizures this election are seven times those made in the 2019 assembly polls in the two states, the poll authority said.

Overall, seizures worth Rs 858 crore have been reported from Maharashtra and Jharkhand. In the 2019 assembly elections, Maharashtra recorded seizures worth Rs 103.61 crore while for Jharkhand it was Rs 18.76 crore.

Seizures included cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and other inducements aimed at disrupting level-playing field.

In Maharashtra, seizures were recorded in all cohorts across all districts, much higher than the previous assembly elections. Some of the operations carried out by the enforcement agencies included seizure of Rs 3.70 crore of cash from a jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar district.

In another incident in Jamod deat 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, EC said.

Jharkhand also witnessed record seizures and this time the focus was also to curb illicit mining activities. This resulted in seizures of illegal mining materials and machines involved.

In a single incident, Rs 2.26 crore worth of illegal mining material was seized in Rajmahal assembly constituency in Sahibganj district and many such actions included seizures related to illegal mining activities.

Another focus area was to have strict vigil over drug movement from the neighbouring states. In Daltonganj, 687 kg of poppy straw was seized, while in Hazaribagh, 48.18 kg of Marijuana was seized.