Police seized ₹11.50 lakh in cash allegedly from the vehicle of a BJP candidate in a village in Korba district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, a day before the second phase of the State Assembly elections, an official said.
Former MLA Ram Dayal Uikey, the BJP nominee from Pali-Tanakhar seat in Korba district, was present in the vehicle when the cash was seized from there, the police official said.
"Some local villagers intercepted Uikey's vehicle [a SUV] near Jhunkidi village under Pasan police station area [Pali-Tanakhar constituency] and informed the police around 1 am," Korba Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla said.
Later, the police recovered ₹11.50 lakh cash during a search of the vehicle, Mr. Shukla said, adding that the money and the vehicle were seized after Mr. Uikey failed to produce documents in support of the cash. Further action is being taken as per the law, he added.
Pali-Tanakhar is among the 70 seats that will go to the polls on Friday in the second phase of the elections. Polling to 20 out of total 90 seats in the State was held on November 7.
Mr. Uikey was first elected as a BJP MLA from Marwahi seat in 1998. He later joined the Congress and vacated his seat to pave the way for the entry of Ajit Jogi in the Chhattisgarh Assembly after the latter was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the State.
As a Congress candidate, Mr. Uikey won Tanakhar seat in 2003. That seat became Pali-Tanakhar after delimitation in 2008. He won that seat in 2008 and 2013 elections. But he returned to the BJP in 2018 and contested from Pali-Tanakhar, but lost to the Congress nominee.
Mr. Uikey has been re-nominated by the BJP from Pali-Tanakhar, where the Congress has denied ticket to its sitting MLA and fielded a woman candidate Duleshwari Sidar.
Meanwhile, officials said they have seized unaccounted cash, illicit liquor and other items worth ₹73.90 crore till Wednesday since October 9 when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force in the State. The seizure includes ₹20.15 crore cash, they said.
