Assam broke all previous records in seizures of cash, liquor, drug and other goods after the Assembly polls were notified with several agencies confiscating items worth over Rs 110 crore, state chief electoral officer Nitin Khade said on Wednesday.
During the 2016 state polls, central and state agencies had seized goods worth less than Rs 20 crore.
Khade told a news conference: “After the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force on February 26 in view of the Assam Assembly elections, cash and other valuables worth Rs 110.83 crore have been seized till date. Till now, seizures of drugs and narcotics worth Rs 34.29 crore, over 16.61 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 33.44 crore, cash amounting to Rs 24.50 crore along with gold, silver jewelleries and gold bars worth Rs 3.68 crore have been made.”
Freebies and other items like foreign-origin cigarettes, poppy seeds, black pepper, areca nuts and pan masala worth Rs 14.91 crore have also been confiscated, Khade said.
“So far, 50 FIRs have been registered across the state related to expenditure violation and 5,234 FIRs lodged in connection with violation of excise rules,” the CEO said. However, he did not share the number of persons detained and arrested in connection with the FIRs.
