Over Rs 1.3-cr cash, 2.35 litres of liquor seized ahead of HP polls

Over Rs 1.3 crore cash and more than 2.35 litres of liquor have been seized ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections since July, state Chief Electoral Officer Pushpinder Rajput said on Wednesday.

"Over Rs 1.3 crore cash and more than 2.35 litres of liquor are seized till now. Our efforts have always been that electoral process be free, fair, transparent and inclusive where all sections of the society are able to exercise their voting rights without fear or greed," Rajput said, while addressing a joint press conference with ADGP (law and order) Atul Verma today.

In a campaign that began on July 10, expenditure monitoring squads were constituted to check the election expenditure as well as the whole electoral process, which led to the seizures, Rajput informed.

Accordingly, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were appointed at inter-state borders, as well as CCTV cameras were used for the monitoring process.

ADGP Atul Verma informed the seized items include gold, 'charas', opium, poppy husk, cannabis, heroin, smack, brown sugar, cocaine, among other narcotics.

The ADGP further assured that tight security measures were taken to ensure fair elections.

"All arrangements are made with regard to EVM storage, transportation, and strong room. Three-tier security will also be in place," Verma said, adding that strong rooms will be monitored through CCTV cameras, while 80 percent of the CAPF will be deployed in polling booths.

Rajput also said that the VVPAT machines will be used for the first time in the country during Himachal polls.

"With the VVPAT, a voter can confirm by looking at the slip if his vote is cast to the candidate he has voted for, without compromising on the confidentiality of the vote as the slip appears behind the screen and will only be visible for 7 seconds after which it will slip off inside the box," Rajput said.