Patna (Bihar) [India], October 16 (ANI): In order to curb the use of money power in the Bihar Assembly elections, the Enforcement Agencies have seized a total of liquor, cash, narcotics and other valuables worth Rs 1.284 crore on Wednesday, taking the total items seized to Rs 37.14 crore, the State Chief Electoral Officer said.
The agencies on Wednesday seized liquor worth Rs 78.7 lakh, narcotics of Rs 25 lakh, precious metals worth Rs 20 lakh, along with other freebies costing Rs 15 lakh, and Rs 10 lakh cash.
According to the press release, after the Model Code of Conduct came into effect, enforcement agencies have seized cash amounting to Rs 2.15 crore, along with liquor worth Rs 16.11 crore, narcotics worth Rs 6.696 crore, precious metals costing Rs 4.94 crore, and other items amounting to Rs 7.237 crore.
Along with the cash and valuables, a total of 221 illegal weapons have been seized in the State in the run-up to the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections.
According to the Bihar CEO, the agencies have seized 1,487 cartridges and five explosives.
A total of 14 centres manufacturing illegal weapons have been raided so far.
Meanwhile, 33.3 per cent of licensed weapons have been deposited. A total of 798 weapon licenses have been cancelled, and 669 weapons have been seized.
To maintain a fair and transparent electoral process in the state, continuous joint operations are being conducted by the District Administration, Police, Excise Department, Income Tax Department, Narcotics Bureau, Customs, and Flying Squad teams, the press release stated.
The Chief Electoral Officer’s Office has directed all districts to strengthen monitoring and ensure prompt action on every complaint.
This comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued directions to all the Enforcement Agencies against the use of money power in the upcoming two-phase Bihar assembly polls and bye-elections in 8 Assembly constituencies.
In a statement, the poll body said that expenditure Observers have already been deployed to monitor the election expenses incurred by the Candidates and have reached their respective Constituencies on the day of the notification of elections.
“During the visit, they will meet all the teams engaged in expenditure monitoring. Flying Squads, Surveillance Teams, Video surveillance teams will be vigilant round-the-clock to monitor any suspected instances of money power or other inducements being used to sway the voters,” the ECI said.
Bihar will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and the results will be declared on November 14. The last date for filing nominations for the first phase is October 17, while that for the second phase is October 20. (ANI)
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