IT dept to keep strict vigil during polls on illegal cash flow

The Income Tax department will closely watch any cash flow during the nearly two-month long elections for Jharkhand Assembly, a senior official of the Election Commission said today.
"The Income Tax department will be asked to keep a watch on the movement of cash... Airports and helipads will be under watch so that no cash is transacted," a senior EC official said here.
"Self-help groups will also be under watch as money sometimes is distributed through them," the official said adding, several measures were taken to solve the "menace of money power."
"Liquor monitoring teams will monitor flow of liquor and shops registering more than 30 per cent sale will be under scanner so that nobody uses liquor for campaign," the official said, recollecting seizure of liquor worth Rs 175 crore while conducting thirty elections across the country over the years.

Three flying squads would be set up for each constituency in the state, he said adding, committees for paid news would be there and any corruption-related matter being published in the media would be taken as a formal complaint and action against the accused would be initiated.
"The media is a big stake holder for us. We expect these measures will not be sufficient unless the media works together (with the EC)... The people should know, through awareness campaigns, that taking bribe is also an offence," he said.
The official recalled how some people returned sarees to Returning Officers during an election in Tamil Nadu saying somebody had thrown them near their houses at night.