As the polling for Karnataka Legislative Assembly gets underway on Wednesday after a fiercely fought campaign by the parties, the Election Commission has said that a whopping over ₹463 crore worth cash, liquor, jewels, drugs and freebies have been seized since the second week of March while the Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹288 crore worth of assets.
The Election Commission said that the total seizures since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into place has been 4.5 times higher than that of the seizures done in 2018. While about ₹83.93 crore worth of cash, jewellery, liquor and freebies had been seized in 2018, this year, the number had shot up to about ₹380 crore. This apart, the Enforcement Directorate has attached ₹288 crore worth of assets after imposition of the Model Code of Conduct.
The seizures in 2023 include ₹147.46 crore cash, 22.27 lakh litres of liquor worth ₹83.66, narcotics worth ₹23.67 crore, precious metal worth ₹96.60 crore and freebies worth ₹24.21 crore among others. Besides, ₹83.78 crore worth of cash and articles have been seized between the second week of March when the Election Commission officials visited Karnataka and March 29 when the MCC came into effect after the dates for election were announced.
An Election Commission press note observed that notable hauls included seizure of ₹4.04 crore in Bangarapet assembly constituency in Kolar, raid on illegal manufacturing of Alprozolam in Hyderabad by through intelligence gathering and trail mapping done by NCB and seizure of 100 kg ganja in Bidar district.
Another notable feature has been huge seizures of saree and food kits from Kalaburgi, Chikkamagalur and other districts, pressure cookers and other kitchen appliances from Bailahongal and Kunigal assembly constituencies and sewing machines from Savadatti-Yellamma assembly constituency. Seizure of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies from border check posts was more than ₹70 crore, it added.
