Rs 50 lakh cash seized in pre-poll raids
The party named Kartikeyan Pandian, a IAS officer and private secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in its petition to the EC
Police and flying squad seized cash worth over Rs 50 lakh in pre-poll raids from two different places in Ganjam district.
While cash of Rs 46.49 lakh was seized from the house of S Era Swamy, the head of the village committee at Pitatali under Golanthara police station limit in Chikiti assembly segment on Tuesday night, the flying squad seized around Rs four lakh from a person at Panthanivas, Rambha on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided the house of Swamy. Police also recovered over 200 flags of the ruling BJD from his house during the raids. Anirudha Singh, the superintendent of police (SP) Berhampur confirmed the seizure of cash.
"We are verifying his motive to store such a huge amount in his home," Singh said. In the second incident, police, however , did not disclose the name of the person from whom Rs 4 lakh was seized and his party affiliation. "The cash was seized, but the person and his party affiliation is yet to be known," said SP (Ganjam) Ashish Kumar Singh.
The CPM candidate in Berhampur Lok Sabha candidate Ali Kishore Patnaik said he had intimated to the election observer about the distribution of money by some of the supporters of the ruling party at Panthanivas, Rambha. On his information, the flying squad conducted the raids.
He alleged the money was distributed by the ruling party supporters in presence of the local police. While they were in possession of cash of around Rs 25 lakh, they had shown cash of only Rs 4 lakh.
"We have demanded that the persons who were distributing the money should be arrested immediately. Action should be taken against the police officer, who was presented during the distribution of cash," Patnaik asserted. He has written to the chief election officer (CEO) about this incident. In Chikiti segment, woman and child development minister Usha Devi is contesting on a BJD ticket. She is pitted against Manoranjan Dyansamantara (Congress) and Udayanath Pradhan (BJP).
In Chhatrapur, the BJD has fielded a private doctor Priyanshu Pradhan. His challengers are Banamali Sethi (Congress), BJP's Dharanidhara Behera and CPI's Krushna Chandra Nayak.
Ganjam collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary said besides the police, 39 static surveillance teams (SST) and 40 flying squads (FS) have been formed to monitor the elections. The role of the squad is monitoring illegal cash transactions and distribution of liquor or other items suspected of being used for bribing the voters, he stated.
While cash of Rs 46.49 lakh was seized from the house of S Era Swamy, the head of the village committee at Pitatali under Golanthara police station limit in Chikiti assembly segment on Tuesday night, the flying squad seized around Rs four lakh from a person at Panthanivas, Rambha on Wednesday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided the house of Swamy. Police also recovered over 200 flags of the ruling BJD from his house during the raids. Anirudha Singh, the superintendent of police (SP) Berhampur confirmed the seizure of cash.
"We are verifying his motive to store such a huge amount in his home," Singh said. In the second incident, police, however , did not disclose the name of the person from whom Rs 4 lakh was seized and his party affiliation. "The cash was seized, but the person and his party affiliation is yet to be known," said SP (Ganjam) Ashish Kumar Singh.
The CPM candidate in Berhampur Lok Sabha candidate Ali Kishore Patnaik said he had intimated to the election observer about the distribution of money by some of the supporters of the ruling party at Panthanivas, Rambha. On his information, the flying squad conducted the raids.
He alleged the money was distributed by the ruling party supporters in presence of the local police. While they were in possession of cash of around Rs 25 lakh, they had shown cash of only Rs 4 lakh.
"We have demanded that the persons who were distributing the money should be arrested immediately. Action should be taken against the police officer, who was presented during the distribution of cash," Patnaik asserted. He has written to the chief election officer (CEO) about this incident. In Chikiti segment, woman and child development minister Usha Devi is contesting on a BJD ticket. She is pitted against Manoranjan Dyansamantara (Congress) and Udayanath Pradhan (BJP).
In Chhatrapur, the BJD has fielded a private doctor Priyanshu Pradhan. His challengers are Banamali Sethi (Congress), BJP's Dharanidhara Behera and CPI's Krushna Chandra Nayak.
Ganjam collector Prem Chandra Chaudhary said besides the police, 39 static surveillance teams (SST) and 40 flying squads (FS) have been formed to monitor the elections. The role of the squad is monitoring illegal cash transactions and distribution of liquor or other items suspected of being used for bribing the voters, he stated.
Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel
First Published: Apr 09 2014 | 8:05 PM IST