During the current elections for the State Legislative Assemblies of Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and bye-polls, Enforcement Agencies under the Election Commission have confiscated more than Rs. 1000 crore worth of cash, alcohol, narcotics, freebies, and other inducements.
Seizures of Rs 858 crores have been recorded for the states of Jharkhand and Maharashtra, which is seven times the amount of seizures made during the 2019 assembly elections. Maharashtra had seizures of Rs. 103.61 crores during the 2019 Assembly elections, compared to Rs. 18.76 crores for Jharkhand.
| State | Cash (Rs. crore) | Liquor (Rs. Crore) | Drugs (Rs. Crore) | Precious Metals(Rs. Crore) | Freebies (Rs. Crore) | Total (Rs. Crore) |
| Maharashtra | 153.48 | 71.13 | 72.14 | 282.49 | 80.94 | 660.18 |
| Jharkhand | 14.84 | 7.84 | 14.84 | 8.38 | 152.22 | 198.12 |
| By Polls- 14 States | 13.65 | 40.86 | 36.59 | 11.21 | 121.60 | 223.91 |
| Total | 181.97 | 119.83 | 123.57 | 302.08 | 354.76 | 1082.2 |
In Maharashtra, seizures were recorded in all cohorts across all districts, much higher than previous assembly elections. A few noteworthy operations included seizure of Rs. 3.70 crores of cash from a suspicious Jeep in Wada police station area in Palghar District. In another noteworthy incident, in Jamod AC of Buldhana district, 4500 kg of Ganja plants worth Rs 4.51 crores were seized. In Raigad, Rs. 5.20 crores worth of silver bars were seized.
Liquor consignment worth Rs 1.02 cr seized in coastal belt of Ratnagiri
Record seizures also occurred in Jharkhand, where the emphasis was on stopping illegal mining operations. As a consequence, illegal mining equipment and materials were seized. In Rajmahal AC in Sahibganj district, illicit mining material valued at Rs. 2.26 crores was discovered in a single occurrence; seizures linked to illicit mining activities were part of several other actions. Maintaining a careful watch on the transit of narcotics from neighboring states was another area of concentration. 48.18 kg of marijuana and 687 kg of poppies were confiscated in Hazaribagh and Daltonganj, respectively.
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Source: PIB
