The Election Commission has reported a haul of Rs 178 crore recovered by its surveillance teams from the four States and a Union Territory where election process concluded on Monday.
According to EC officials, the largest haul was from Tamil Nadu which alone accounted for the lion's share with over Rs 112.89 crore recovered in the State by the election expenditure monitoring teams and flying squads employed for curbing flow of money to influence voters ahead of the poll date.
Besides TN, the recoveries were accounted from States of Kerala, Assam and West Bengal and UT of Puducherry. Of the recovered amount, about Rs 54 crore was released by the EC after due verification by the team which found the money was to be used for genuine purpose. The EC teams were assisted by senior officials of the income tax department in verifying the bonafides of cash seized.
The latest EC data further states that out of the total Rs 24.66 crore seized in Kerala, Rs 1.67 crore was released after verification, as it was “not linked” to any political party or candidate.
According to official sources, the haul made this year in Tamil Nadu is one the highest figures of cash seizure in any poll-going State in recent times. It was for this reason the Commission had to postpone voting in two seats in the State after containers of cash was seized from two vehicles in the State.
“Speaking about figures of seizure in Tamil Nadu, the numbers have been one of the highest. But effectively the seizures in the State stand somewhere around Rs 66 crore,” said EC officials. In Puducherry, out of the total seizure of Rs 7.47 crore, Rs 4.35 crore was released.
Seizures in West Bengal and Assam, where polling has ended, stand at Rs 20.75 crore (Rs 4.67 crore released) and Rs 12.33 crore (Rs .42 crore released) respectively.