One-third seats marked as 'expenditure sensitive' in Guj

To keep a strict vigil on cash and bullion movement in poll-bound Gujarat, the Income Tax department has deputed its teams in every district and airport in the state and have also flagged around one-third seats as 'expenditure sensitive', a top official said in Ahmedabad on Friday.

The Election Commission and the I-T department have kept around 60 out of total 182 contituencies in this slot and have decided on a bigger deployment there.

"We have placed one team in every district of Gujarat, which shall be functioning under investigation wing. A control room operational 24X7 with a toll free helpline number has also been set up in Ahmedabad," Harish Kumar, Gujarat I-T director investigation said.

Certain constituencies have been identified as sensitive for cash and bullion movement, where deployment shall be bigger, he said.

As per officials, any person or a group of persons if found carrying over Rs 2.50 lakh unaccounted cash, will be detained.

The Election Commission had announced that assembly polls in Gujarat will be held in two phases-- on December 13 and 17. The notification for the polls will be issued on November 17 and counting of votes will take place on December 20.

The election authorities have roped in departments like the Customs, Income Tax as well as officials of local civic bodies, who will be working in tandem with EC-appointed expenditure observers and assistant observers.