Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has seized inducements valued at more than Rs 100 crore, including Rs 1.47 crore in cash, from Odisha.
This is part of nationwide seizure of Rs 4,650 crore in cash, drugs, liquor, precious metals, and freebies between 1 March and 13 April, which is about 34% higher than the Rs 3,475 crore value of materials seized during the entirety of the 2019 general election campaign.
The crackdown led to seizure of significant amount of liquor worth Rs 16.21 crore, drugs valued at Rs 39.01 crore and precious metals worth Rs 6.46 crore. Freebies valued at Rs 43.96 crore were also confiscated. While cash seizures rose by 114%, liquor and precious metal seizures increased by 61% and 43% respectively. Drug seizures saw a whopping 62% increase, at Rs 2,068 crore.
Rajasthan recorded the highest seizures among all states and union territories, at Rs 778 crore, also topping the freebies list, followed by Gujarat (Rs 605 crore), and Tamil Nadu ( Rs 460 crore). Punjab recorded seizures of Rs 311.84 crore, with drugs constituting a significant 90.04% of the items. The value of drug seizure, however, was the highest in Gujarat at Rs 485 crore.
Odisha figured at the 14th spot among all states and 77 per cent of the seizures included freebies, drugs and narcotics. The enforcement agencies have seized freebies and other items worth Rs 43.96 crore, drugs worth Rs 39 crore, and precious metal worth Rs 6.46 crore, besides 13.24 lakh litre of liquor valued at Rs 16.21 crore from various parts of the state between March 1 and April 13, according to TNIE.
