Gujarat: Cash, Drugs, Liquor Worth Rs 290 Crore Seized, Recoveries Over 10 Times Made In 2017

According to the Election Commission, its planning and monitoring, through the various enforcement agencies have led to record seizures during the election process in the state this year.

Polling officials collect EVMs and other election equipment at a distribution centre ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: The Election Commission has so far recovered cash, drugs, liquor and freebies worth over Rs 290 crore in poll-bound Gujarat, which is 10 times the recoveries made during the entire assembly election period in 2017, news agency PTI reported.

According to the Election Commission, its planning and monitoring, through the various enforcement agencies have led to record seizures during the election process in the state this year.

Notably, an ongoing seizure process of heavy consignment of drugs is being led by a team of officers of ATS Gujarat, that is carrying out an operation in Vadodara (Rural) and Vadodara City.     

According to the report, the ATS team has busted two mephedrone drug manufacturing units and recovered about 143 kg of mephedrone (synthetic drug) worth about Rs 478 crore.

They have also detained five persons from Nadiad and Vadodara and a criminal case is being registered in ATS Police Station, Ahmedabad under relevant sections of the NDPS Act, 1985.

"The operation is in progress and complete details will be made available once the operation is completed," the election panel said.

Apart from the contraband seized in the ongoing Gujarat ATS crackdown, drugs worth Rs 61.96 crore have also been recovered and over four lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 14.88 crore has been recovered from the poll-bound state, EC data said.

It is to be noted that the total seizures in the 2017 Gujarat assembly election were Rs 27.21 crore.

As on November 29, total seizures stood at Rs 290.24 crore -- 10.66 times of seizures in 2017.

Notably, election campaigns for the first phase of assembly elections in Gujarat have already concluded with the polling to take place on Thursday, December 1. The second phase of voting will be done on December 5 while the counting of votes polled for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will be carried out on December 8.

Voting for the Himachal assembly was done in a single phase on November 12.