Election Commission: Drugs, alcohol, and cash worth Rs 4 crore were found in J&K ahead of the Lok Sabha election
The Election Commission of India stated on Monday that cash, alcohol, drugs, and freebies totaling more than Rs 4 crore have been confiscated by authorities in Jammu and Kashmir in advance of the Lok Sabha elections.
With inducement seizures of Rs 4,650 crore—a rise of Rs 175 crore from 2019—the poll authority is on course to record the highest-ever seizures of inducements in the nation’s 75-year history of Lok Sabha elections.
The EC data shows that in Jammu and Kashmir, articles worth Rs 5.59 lakh, freebies, booze worth Rs 63 lakh, narcotics worth Rs 2.35 crores, cash around Rs 1.2 crores, and precious metals worth Rs 25,800 were recovered.
It said, “Total seizures in J-K are worth Rs 4.2 crore.”
Similarly, Ladakh had the lowest seizure of any state or union territory, with all products, including liquor, taken for a total of Rs 11,580.
The EC said that it would not let up on its crackdown before the Lok Sabha elections. Jammu & Kashmir is ranked 30th in terms of seizures out of the 36 states and Union territories.
It also said that even before the first round of voting for the 18th Lok Sabha elections, which starts on Friday, the enforcement authorities had already effected a record-breaking seizure of more than Rs 4,650 crore as part of the EC’s determined campaign against money power.
Compared to the Rs 3,475 crores that were taken during the 2019 Lok Sabha election, this is a significant increase. Remarkably, drugs and narcotics account for 45% of the seizures, which the Commission is particularly focused on, it said.
