Hyderabad: As April 11, when the first phase of the general elections will be held, approaches, the flow of cash, liquor, precious metals and freebies is swelling as can be seen from the seizure report of the Election Commission.
Given the mammoth sums of money that candidates are said to be spending — up to Rs 80 crore per constituency, this seems to be just a small portion.
Since the model code of conduct has been imposed in states going for the polls, the enforcement agencies that constitute local police, flying squads and strategic surveillance team have been conducting raids. In parallel, the I-T department is raiding, based on specific inputs and seizing unaccounted cash.
Across the country, enforcement agencies have seized Rs 1,618.78 crore worth cash, drugs, liquor and precious metals.
The highest reported is in Gujarat — Rs 511.84 crore followed by Tamil Nadu with `285.86 crore and Andhra Pradesh with Rs 158.61 cr. Meanwhile, the election session is filling the coffers of the I-T department.
Across the country, Rs 56.58 crore unaccounted cash for which there is no legitimate source, has been seized by IT personnel.
Tamil Naidu tops the country for the highest amount of cash seized at Rs 29.91 crore by the IT department. In Chennai, Rs 15.13 crore was seized from the house of the proprietor of a private entity and his associates, followed by Rs 11.48 crore found in five premises in Vellore district. The third highest cash confiscated was Rs 9.83 crores found in deposits and the accused said this was money for further investment, but did not produce the source of income. I-T personnel seized cash across Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, Khanna in Punjab and Mumbai
