Patna:
Almost 17 crore in cash has been seized in election season in Bihar, where polling will be held in five phases starting next Monday. Authorities have also seized more than 1.5 lakh litres of liquor. Cash and liquor are commonly used in elections to influence voters.
Here are the top 10 developments:
The cash found so far is almost three times that seized in the state during the national election last year. Rs 6 crore was confiscated in Bihar then.
So far this year, about 62 lakh has been seized in Nepalese rupees, 60 lakh in other foreign currency and 16.22 lakh in fake currency.
Authorities are closely monitoring the border Bihar shares with Nepal, to detect the smuggling of cash into India for the assembly elections.
While Bihar's excise department has seized 83,072 litres of liquor, other agencies have recovered 69,405 litres, said an Election Commission report.
More than 3.5 lakh kg of country liquor Mahua, worth Rs.1.76 crore, has been confiscated.
8.2 kg of gold and gold jewelery has been seized. Also, 814 kg of ganja or cannabis and 331 gm of heroin, said the election commission report.
The election commission has appointed 80 central officials to help observers in the 243 constituencies of Bihar keep a strict check on flow of black or untaxed money and on the production, storage and distribution of liquor and other intoxicants.
It has also directed the Income Tax department to activate its intelligence units at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi and at the Patna airport to check movement of cash.
Hundreds of vehicles carrying cash for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across Bihar are also under the scanner. Banks have been asked to maintain a record of cash carried in these vehicles all the time and produce it on demand for officials deputed to check the illegal flow of money.
Polling will be held on October 12, 16, 18 and November 1 and 5. Votes will be counted on November 8.
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