The Punjab government dismissed claims that it owned the car intercepted in Delhi. The vehicle's number plate was forged and fake as it can be tracked to a different car not owned by the Punjab government, it said. The AAP, too, released a statement, saying the car seizure was a "planted stunt, ?poorly executed and utterly bogus".
Four times more liquor has been seized in the 2024 election than during the 2019 polls.
The poll panel said the seizures made since the polls were announced on October 9 are over seven times (Rs 239.15 crore) the seizures made in the previous assembly elections in these states in 2018.
Issuing notice to the ED on the plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government and Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the anti-money laundering probe agency, that "Your ED is crossing all the limits."
Total of Rs 40 lakh cash and over 53,000 litres of illicit liquor was seized
Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crore in just a few days after the announcement of the election
Nearly 3,000 polling booths have been identified as sensitive, and special security arrangements, including drone surveillance, have been ensured at some of these locations.
Seizures were made to stop any inducement of voters in Maharashtra, where polling will take place on November 20.
The poll-panel called these seizures by its various field and technical enforcement teams a "historic milestone" achieved "for the first time in any assembly electoral process", meaning during simultaneously-held assembly polls.
Seizures in poll-bound states see sharp rise since implementation of Model Code of Conduct.
The commission said enforcement authorities have seized Rs 4,650 crore even before polling begins for the Lok Sabha elections and it is the "higher than total seizures" made in the 2019 polls
Five years after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar imposed total prohibition in Bihar, the liquor mafia continues to thrive, reports MI Khan.
The amounts are thrice of what agencies seized during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll process.
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
As the raids were completed, the I-T team took two managers of the distillery located at Sutapada to an unknown location for interrogation, they said.
The tax department has deployed about 40 large and small machines to count currency notes and brought in more department and bank staffers to finish the counting process, which began on December 6 following raids against Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd and others, they said.
The marathon raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters and others entered the fifth day on Sunday.
During a review, the EC found that the performance of some officers was "unsatisfactory" and they were found "complacent, if not complicit" in various matters, including the illegal supply of liquor as a possible poll inducement, sources said.
Prohibition is resulting in prisons getting overcrowded.
This is thrice of what agencies seized during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll process, reports Archis Mohan.
Authorities seized around Rs 1.4 crore cash and 500 cases of liquor as the crackdown on inducements to woo voters of the May 5 assembly elections in Karnataka continued to yield rich dividends.
The cumulative seizure of such illegal inducements in the five poll-going states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab -- stood at Rs 1,039.50 crore, the sources said, adding that it included drugs worth Rs 571.34 crore.
'Initially, we had 48 teams, now it has been enhanced to 133 teams: that is for every 10 to 12 villages, there is a team that is working round the clock.' '133 x 3, that is, given the 8-hour shifts.' 'They are monitored every hour, they are equipped with GPS -- everything is tracked live, real time, from the control room.'
With the Income Tax department recovering over Rs 225 crore cash during a series of raids on an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned.
Former MLA Ram Dayal Uikey, the BJP nominee from Pali-Tanakhar seat in Korba district, was present in the vehicle when the cash was seized from there, the police official said.
Kejriwal said that it has been alleged that a bribe of Rs 100 crore was taken, but he asked where was the money.
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
A voter turnout of 72.14 per cent was recorded in Assam till 5 pm on Saturday in the first phase of assembly elections in the state, the Election Commission said.
Over Rs 313 crore in cash has been seized by Election Commission since the announcement of the 16th general elections with Andhra Pradesh topping the list in cash and liquor interceptions during this period.
The commission said polling was held at 15,940 polling stations spread across 44 assembly constituencies in this phase of polls.
Kamla Nagar police station in-charge Vijay Sisodia on Wednesday said an inquiry is underway to find out how the girl got sleeping pills in the shelter home.
The order grants permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter the 62-year-old tycoon's properties in Hertfordshire, near London.
The banks have asked the court to demand his return and to impound his passport.
The seizure of liquor has been a matter of concern for the EC since it apprehends that the liquor might be used to influence the voters.
In order to stop the production and sale of illicit liquor, Maharashtra government is considering a proposal to amend the existing law.
Over Rs 195 crore of cash has been seized so far by Election Commission appointed teams, with Andhra Pradesh topping the list.
Janata Dal-United MLC Manorama Devi faced an arrest warrant on Wednesday for violating prohibition laws and allegedly harbouring her fugitive son.
The court had, however, rejected ED's request for attachment of the liquor baron's overseas properties
Under siege, Nitish plans to tweak Bihar's anti-booze law
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
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