Tamil Nadu election officials have seized a staggering ₹178.78 crore in cash, liquor, and drugs, signalling a major crackdown on illegal inducements ahead of the upcoming elections.
Election officials have seized cash, liquor, drugs and other goods valued at Rs 178.78 crore across Tamil Nadu.
The surveillance and enforcement teams of the Election Commisison deployed to monitor and curb illegal inducements seized Rs 112.37 crore worth of precious metals, Rs 34.64 crore in cash, items kept for distribution as freebies Rs 24.22 crore, drugs and narcotics worth Rs 6.76 crore and liquor valued at Rs 79 lakh, Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik said on Tuesday in an official release here.
Referring to the Model Code of Conduct, which came into effect on March 15, the release said a multi-tier enforcement mechanism has been activated across the State.
"A total of 2,169 Flying Squad teams have been constituted and deployed throughout Tamil Nadu. These teams are functioning on a 24x7 basis and are promptly responding to complaints received through the cVigil application and other channels," it said.
A total of 2,166 Static Surveillance teams have been positioned at key locations and check-posts. These teams are carrying out intensive inspections of vehicles and individuals to prevent the unlawful movement of cash, liquor, narcotics and other inducements, it added.