With the date of polling in the Lok Sabha election- April 11 inching closer, the State police are focusing on ensuring that the elections are held without any major hiccups. Since the announcement of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and imposition of the election model code of conduct on March 10, more than Rs two crore cash has been seized by the police apart from a considerable quantity of liquor and narcotics.
Director General of Police (law and order) Ashok Kumar on Wednesday told The Pioneer that these type of activities are likely to continue at a heightened pace till the polling is done. He said,“In fact the cash we are confiscating right now is not even related to elections. It’s mostly people carrying black money to buy property or something, for which we are sending information to income tax department.”
When asked about the action plan of state police he said, “We have set up 85 check points on interstate borders and 130 check points inside the state. On every check point there are seven to eight policemen. We are trying our level best to prevent these activities.”
For the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the model code of conduct came into force from the evening of March 10. Since then, Uttarakhand police have confiscated Rs 2.74 crore in cash. Similarly, so far about 22,000 litres of illegal liquor amounting to Rs 92 lakh has also been seized. Further, narcotic substances weighing about 95 kilogrammes and amounting to about Rs 69 lakh have also been seized by the authorities.
Observers point out that the movement of cash, liquor and narcotics appears to rise ahead of the elections. These are considered to be means that may also be used to influence the voters.