Kolkata, April 7 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Tuesday that from February 26 to April 6, illegal and unauthorized items worth approximately ₹327.44 crore have been seized in West Bengal, which is holding crucial two-phase Assembly elections later this month.
The office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has released a press statement providing details of these seizures.
Of the total amount, the cash seized amounted to ₹11.01 crore.
The monetary value of the illegal liquor seized is ₹57.71 crore, while the value of drugs and narcotics seized is ₹67.35 crore.
The value of the precious metals seized during the same period is ₹38.55 crore, while the value of freebies/other items (as per the statement) is ₹162.80 crore.
According to the press statement, the number of unlicensed arms and weapons seized until April 4 in the state is 251, and the number of cartridges seized is 401.
A total of 127.7 kg of explosives have been seized until the same period, and the number of bombs seized stands at 887.
At the same time, the state CEO's office had stated that extensive drives are underway to remove unauthorized political advertisements.
"According to the latest reports, widespread defacement of public and private properties has been cleared across all districts, and the District Election Officers have certified the removal of defacement from all public properties under their jurisdictions," the press statement from the CEO's office said.
"The ECI remains committed to ensuring the conduct of elections characterized by the highest standards of transparency, impartiality, and security across all 294 Assembly Constituencies in West Bengal. As the state progresses toward the scheduled polling phases on April 23 and April 29, the office of the West Bengal CEO is rigorously monitoring the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). This daily brief provides a comprehensive overview of the latest operational developments," the statement added.
