TNR Desk
The seizures of cash, ornaments, liquor and psychotropic drugs in Himachal Pradesh before the formal notification for the Lok Sabha elections was issued on Tuesday (May 7, 2024 ) has surpassed the comparative levels of the 2019 parliamentary poll, said Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg.
In view of the model code of conduct that is in force for the Lok Sabha elections, seizures amounting to Rs 13.38 crore have been made to date during the current elections in Himachal compared to the total of Rs 11.31 crore in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
Expecting more seizures in the times to come, Garg said that the biggest haul of seizure was made from Shimla parliamentary constituency amounting to Rs 4.19 crore, followed by Hamirpur of Rs 3.98 crore. In Kangra, enforcement agencies, including police and state taxes and excise department, made a catch of Rs 3.36 crore and the lowest seizures were from Mandi parliamentary constituency of Rs 1.83 crore.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that in 2019, the police seized cash, liquor, drugs and ornaments worth Rs 3.73 crore, while the state taxes and excise department had seized liquor and goods amounting to Rs 7.58 crore. Whereas in 2024, the seizures of the police amounted to Rs 4.65 crore, that of state taxes and excise department Rs 8.35 crore and the mining department had issued fines worth Rs 25 lakh for illegal mining.
Till May 7, 2024, the seizures of cash, drugs, ornaments and liquor amounted to Rs 51.55 lakh in Bilaspur district, Rs 66.80 lakh in Chamba, Rs 29.04 lakh in Hamirpur, Rs 2.74 crore in Kangra, Rs 7.99 lakh in Kinnaur and Rs 1.04 crore in Kullu. In Lahaul-Spiti district, the total seizure of illicit liquor, drugs, ornaments and cash amounted to Rs 32 lakh, in Mandi Rs 58.22 lakh, in Shimla district Rs 1.15 crore and Rs 1.20 crore in district Sirmaur. Seizures worth Rs 1.95 crore were made in Solan and Rs 3.14 crore in Una. The total seizures in all four Lok Sabha constituencies were worth Rs 13.38 crore.
Record seizures even before poll notification in Himachal, exceed total of 2019 Lok Sabha elections
