Telangana’s pre-poll cash, gold seizure cross Rs 300 crore

Hyderabad: The seizure of cash, gold, liquor and other items in Telangana in the run up to next month’s assembly elections crossed Rs 300 crore on Saturday, officials said.

Enforcement agencies have seized cash, gold and liquor worth over Rs 18 crore till Saturday morning. With this the total seizure since October 9 has gone up to Rs 307 crore, said to be a record in the country for such a short period.

During the entire poll process in 2018 elections in Telangana, the total seizure was cash and gold worth Rs.103 crore.

The enforcement agencies had started the checking on October 9 when the model code of conduct came into force with the announcement of poll schedule by the Election Commission of India.

During the 24-hours period, more than Rs 9.69 crore cash was seized. The total cash seizure has now gone up to Rs 105.58 crore.

According to the data released by the office of Chief Electoral Officer, precious metals worth over Rs 3.81 crore were seized between 9 a.m. October 20 and 9 a.m. October 21.

The enforcement agencies have so far seized 220 kgs gold, 894 kg silver, diamond and platinum all worth more than Rs 145 crore.

Authorities continued their crackdown on the flow of liquor. During the 24-hour period, 31,961 liters of liquor was seized, taking the cumulative seizure to 72,302 liters, valued Rs.13.58 crore.

The state and central agencies have also seized 232 kg ganja, taking the total seizure to 3,672 kg, valued over Rs 15.23crore.

The authorities have also seized 1.89 lakh kg rice and other items worth over Rs 26.93 crore.

The elections for 119-member state assembly will be held in a single phase on November 30.