Punjab polls: Around 2,600 kg drugs, 12.43 lakh litres liquor seized

Paramilitary soldiers standing guard as they wait to be deployed to provide security during the forthcoming Punjab election at distribution centre in Amritsar on February 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / NARINDER NANU

CHANDIGARH: With drug menace being one of the major poll issues in Punjab, around 2,598 kgs of drugs and other narcotics valued at Rs 18.26 crore were seized in the state which went to polls on Saturday, the Election Commission said. Talking to reporters here, Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said that 12.43 lakh litres of liquor valued at Rs 13.34 crore was also seized since the announcement of polls on January 4. "Cash of Rs 58.02 crore was seized by police and other authorities. Out of this, Rs 31.68 crore was released after verification and Rs 25.19 crore was handed over to the Income Tax Department," Saxena said. Apart from that, around 164 kg of gold and 26.5 kg of silver worth Rs 26.04 crore was also seized, the Election Commission said. It added that around 55 cases of paid news were also identified during the run-up to the polls. While the polling went peacefully across the state, one incident of violence was reported from Taran Taran where two groups of different political associations clashed and one person got a bullet injury, Saxena said. He added that the main accused was nabbed by police which were now looking for around 16 other accused. Saxena said that around four constituencies used e-ballots to cater to 1.5 lakh service voters. In Goa, six kilograms of drugs worth Rs 34 lakhs and 75,000 litres of liqour worth Rs 1 crore were seized, said Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha. Apart from that, 58.19 kg of silver and yellow metal articles, and 175 Rado wrist watches worth Rs 55.55 lakh were also seized, he said. Sinha added that there will be repolling in one of the booths in Margao (Goa) due to technical reasons. According to latest reports, 72 per cent votes were cast in Punjab and 83 per cent in Goa. The numbers were expected to go up as people were still waiting in queues to cast their votes.