The Election Commission on Thursday reported seizure of cash amounting to Rs 80.44 crore so far in the five states where Assembly polls are to be held beginning early next month.
In Uttar Pradesh, old currency notes of around Rs 31.65 lakh were also seized by the authorities.
As per figures released by the commission, Uttar Pradesh led in terms of seizure of cash, with the authorities seizing a total of Rs 71.32 crore in the state, followed by Punjab, where Rs 8.81 crore has been seized. Rs 25.54 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh were seized from Uttarakhand and Manipur respectively. No cash seizure has been reported from Goa so far.
Uttar Pradesh also leads in terms of seizure of liquor, with the authorities seizing 2.71 lakh litres liquor worth Rs 7.71 crore in the state. A total of 11,809 litres liquor worth Rs 20.04 lakh was seized in Punjab, and 6,284 litres liquor worth Rs 16.53 lakh was seized in Uttarakhand. No liquor seizures have been reported from Goa and Manipur.
Punjab, which has made news for addiction to drugs amongst the youth in the state, has reported seizure of drugs and narcotics worth Rs 5.54 crore. Ganja, heroin and other narcotic substances worth Rs 68.14 lakh were seized in Uttar Pradesh. In Goa, Charas and other drugs worth Rs 16.72 lakh have been seized. Uttarakhand and Manipur saw seizure of drugs worth Rs 9.66 lakh and Rs 7 lakh, respectively.
The seizures have been made by the surveillance and expenditure monitoring teams of the Commission in the poll-bound states.
