The enforcement agencies are making headlines in Mumbai for going after Bollywood actors for possession and consumption of even small amount of narcotic substances, but in poll-bound Bihar the quantum of seizure has failed to grab eyeballs though the amount is baffling.
The authorities have seized a large quantity of ganja, marijuana, poppy, tobacco, and cannabis showing why prohibition has become such a big issue in Assembly polls this time. Over 7.79 lakh litre liquor, 4871.99 kg ganja, 108 kg marijuana (charas), 1.5 kg heroine, 40 kg tobacco, 3,350 kg cannabis (bhang), 12.50 kg poppy, and 150 gram brown sugar have been seized by the Election Commission so far till the voting of second phase of polls in Bihar.
In addition, the EC has also seized `24.84 crore unaccounted money, over `90 lakh Nepalese currency, 19.68 kg gold and precious ornaments, 275 kg silver.
In a related development, Janata Dal (United) MLA from Matihani, Narendra Kumar Singh, alias Bogo Singh, was arrested late on Monday in Begusarai district for allegedly distributing money to voters’ hours before polling began in the second phase of the Assembly election.
According to the chief electoral officer of Bihar, the enforcement agencies have seized `52.89 crore so far after the implementation of the model code of conduct. The seized amount is higher than in the 2015 Assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Over `19.52 crore have been recovered during vehicle checking across the State. During the phase I polling, over 10.78 litre liquor was seized. The Opposition is now relentlessly attacking Nitish Kumar for the “farce in the name of prohibition due to rampant smuggling and the growing use of drugs” while the JD(U) is extolling its virtues.
As per the Excise Department data, before the liquor ban, Bihar consumed close to 26 million litres of alcohol each month. The same year, the estimated all-India figures for alcohol consumption stood at about 5.70 billion litres. Over 3 million litres of liquor have been confiscated during the four and a half years since prohibition. Up to 1.4 million litres of this confiscated liquor was country-made and over 1.6 million litre foreign-made.
According to the EC, over 3.54 lakh people (bad characters or having criminal backgrounds) have been out on notice in the State during polls. The data shows 25,215 arms have been deposited while licenses to 3,062 arms licence have been cancelled. To maintain law and order, the authorities have acted against 4,983 people under the crime control act. According to EC, 857 special surveillance teams have been deployed in the State to keep an eye to check on black money and supply of drugs, liquor to lure voters.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC had seized `9.12 crore black money, 1.24 lakh litre liquor, 717 kg drugs and 62 kg precious ornaments and jewelry from Bihar. In the Assembly elections in 2015, seizures worth `23.8 crores were registered by the EC machinery with `19 crore of cash found circulating besides 5.78 lakh litres of illicit country- made and foreign liquor from different places in Bihar, while the recoveries in 2019 was less than 20 per cent of that.
