EC seizes over Rs 39 cr cash, foreign currency in Bihar polls

An estimated Rs 39 crore in cash and over 1.67 lakh litres of illicit liquor has been seized by Election Commission-appointed teams in the Bihar assembly elections till now.
Acting on the directions of the poll panel, specially constituted flying squads and other poll surveillance teams undertook operations to check on black money and other illegal inducements during the polls process in the state.
According to an official data, the teams seized Nepalese currency worth Rs 70.40 lakh, fake Indian currency notes with face value of Rs 24.51 lakh, and Rs 60.30 lakh in foreign currency apart from about Rs 19.86 crore in Indian currency.

The rest amount of Rs 19 crore cash was seized by the Income Tax Department last month after it conducted searches in Delhi and Muzzafarpur in Bihar under special instructions of the EC.
Apart from this cash and currency, these teams also seized 1.67 lakh litres of liquor, 857.91 kg ganja, over 7.84 lakh kilograms mahua, 336 grams of heroin, and 8.66 kg gold and jewellery suspected to being transported as illegal inducements for the voters.
The EC had issued special instructions in this regard and has reiterated its instructions to the Bihar state Commission to enforce strict vigil in this regard.

The Commission had further directed that it expects that in Bihar state assembly elections, all agencies must make all- round efforts with real-time intelligence sharing with each other and monitor such suspicious transactions.

"The Commission had also stated that expenditure sensitive areas and persons likely to be associated with such hawala operations must be identified and mapped. As the election process has already started, such actionable intelligence must be put to use at once," the EC said today.
Keeping in view the ongoing elections, identified and suspected hawala operators are also being kept under surveillance by enforcement authorities and investigations are on in cases of unaccounted money.

The last round of polling for the five-phase elections will be held tomorrow while the counting of votes will take place on November 8.