Bihar Assembly Election: Liquor, cash and drugs worth Rs 64 crore seized across Bihar, EC directs agencies to…

Bihar Assembly Election: Liquor, cash, drugs and freebies worth a total of Rs 64.13 crore have been seized across Bihar since the Election Commission announced the schedule of the Bihar Assembly Election on October 6. According to officials, 753 arrests have been made, while 13,587 non-bailable warrants were executed in the poll-bound state by the police and other agencies since poll scheduler was announced.

Liquor worth Rs 23 crore seized in dry Bihar

In a statement, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said enforcement agencies have seized liquor worth Rs 23.41 crore, freebies worth Rs 14 crore, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances of Rs 16.88 crore and Rs 4.19 crore in cash since October 6. “Authorities have seized cash, liquor, drugs, and freebies worth around Rs 64.13 crore across the state,” it said.

Earlier, the Election Commission has directed enforcement agencies to intensify their vigilance, and reactivated its economic intelligence panel after a gap of six years to curb the use of money, liquor and drugs to influence voters ahead of the Bihar polls.

EC issues directions to agencies

Officials said the apex poll panel has issued directions to the Bihar Police, excise and income tax departments, customs, revenue intelligence, and enforcement directorates to prevent the use of money power and freebies to sway voters in the poll-bound state.

“Flying squads, surveillance teams, and video surveillance teams are active round-the-clock across the state to monitor any attempt to influence voters through inducements. Instructions have also been given to ensure that enforcement activities must not inconvenience the public during inspections or checks,” an official said.

The Commission has also deployed 121 general observers and 18 police observers for phase 1 and 122 general observers along with 20 police observers for phase 2 of the assembly polls, the official said, adding the observers have been instructed to closely monitor the entire election process and ensure a transparent, free and fair conduct of elections.

Observers have also been instructed to visit polling stations and ensure the implementation of the recent initiatives taken by the commission for the convenience of the voters, he said.

Bihar Assembly Election

Bihar Assembly Election will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11, with the counting of votes to follow on November 14.

While the filing of the nomination papers for the first phase of polls has already been closed on October 17, the last date for submitting such documents for the second round of polls will end on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies)