Rs. 18 lakh unaccounted cash seized in Varuna

Mysuru poll teams confiscate Rs. 28,46,665 in cash, Rs. 1.25 crore worth of liquor

Mysuru/Bengaluru: The Election Commission officials in Karnataka have seized huge amounts of cash, liquor, freebies and drugs in the poll-bound State in the last 24 hours.

In Mysuru’s Varuna Constituency, unaccounted cash worth Rs. 18 lakh has been seized and the process is on to hand the cash over to the Income Tax Department. As per the Election Commission guidelines, the Income Tax Department will take over the investigation if cash of more than Rs. 10 lakh is seized.

The cash was seized at a check-post established on the Mysuru-T. Narasipur Highway and was headed towards Varuna Constituency. An investigation is on to ascertain who the cash belonged to and the location to which it was being transported. In all, 45 check-posts have been set up across the district.

Till now, the Mysuru Police have seized Rs. 28,46,665 in cash and 152 flying squads have been deployed. In addition, there are 149 Static Surveillance Teams and 14 excise teams. The Excise Department has seized 60.15 litres of liquor and Rs. 21,934 in cash. In all, 142.06 litres of liquor have been seized by the Excise and Police teams. Rs. 53,784 in cash has also been seized.

As per a note from the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner, a total of Rs. 31,80,165 cash and Rs. 1.25 crore of liquor have been seized. The flying squads of the Election Commission and the Police authorities have been checking vehicles across district borders as the Model Code of Conduct came into force.

According to a note from the State Election Commission, flying squads and the Police have seized Rs.7,07,79,207 cash, 1,156.11 litres of liquor worth Rs. 5,80,007, drugs worth Rs. 21,76,950 (39.25 kilograms) and freebies worth Rs. 9,58,68,772 and booked 172 FIRs. The Income Tax Department has seized cash worth Rs. 3,90,00,000.