K'taka Polls: Over Rs 41 cr cash, 4L litres liquor seized by EC teams

Over Rs 41.48 crore cash and 4 lakh litres of liquor have so far been seized by the Election Commission (EC) appointed surveillance teams in poll-bound Karnataka, officials said today.

As per data updated till yesterday, the EC flying squads and other surveillance teams have seized a total cash amount of Rs 41,48,27,231 and over 4.64 lakh litres of liquor, worth more than Rs 21.69 crore, since the declaration of polls for the southern state.

The EC has appointed multiple teams to check illegal cash and inducements to lure the voters during the single-phase May 12 Karnataka Assembly polls.

Thepoll panel also said the value of cash and jewellery seized by the Income Tax (IT) department in the southern state had gone up by three times to about Rs 25 crore as compared to the last Assembly election.

During the 2013 Assembly polls, the IT department had seized Rs 4.97 crore of cash and jewellery worth Rs 3.41 crore over the "entire" campaign period, the EC said.

The total cash seizures (as part of the ongoing poll campaign), as on April 30, was Rs 19.69 crore and jewellery worth Rs 4.81 crore were recovered by the investigation wing of the IT Department in Karnataka since the start of the Assembly election related surveillance, the poll body said in a statement here.