Cash, liquor, freebies worth Rs 95 crore seized in J&K during election period

Srinagar: Election authorities and other enforcement agencies seized around Rs 95 crore worth of cash, liquor, and other freebies, meant to be used to influence the voters during the five-phase Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

The election process in J&K ended on Saturday with voting in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.

"Despite the voter turnout having broken a 35-year-old record in Kashmir, some candidates had tried to use money, liquor, freebies etc to influence the voters. We seized material and cash with a total value of Rs 94.797 crore from the date of commencement of the Lok Sabha elections in J&K," an Election Commission official said.

Officials credited the J&K Police with playing the most important role in checking the use of money and freebies as it accounted for Rs 90.83 crore seized during the campaign.

Cash, liquor, drugs and other freebies were seized by various enforcement departments. Major department-wise seizures included seizures by the police valued at Rs 90.831 crore, the Income Tax Department at Rs 42 lakh, the Excise Department at Rs 1.01 crore while the Narcotics Control Bureau seized drugs valued at Rs 2.32 crore, officials said.

"In order to ensure a level playing field for all contestants, we took action against over 40 government employees who were allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct. We received 143 grievances on the CVIGIL app out of which over 80 have been resolved while the remaining are under the process of resolution," the EC official said.

"To monitor various election-related activities and also check the Model Code of Conduct compliance, we had established a command and control room at the CEO office in Jammu as well as in Srinagar. Similar mini-control rooms were also established in every DEO's (district election officer) office and were functioning round-the-clock. All electronic media channels and social media platforms were monitored here. Any violation so detected was reported and the concerned RO/ARO issued a notice," the official added.

"All techno-savvy facilities, including GPS monitoring, live surveillance, telecommunication, etc. were put into use to secure one of the most exhaustive and elaborate poll processes in J&K amid concerns about the disruption of this democratic process by anti-national elements in the past," the EC official said.