Kolkata, April 7 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI), on Tuesday, told that from February 26 to April 6, illegal and unauthorised items worth around Rs 327.44 crore have been seized in West Bengal, which is going for the crucial two-phase Assembly polls later this month.

The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) Office has released a press statement giving details of such seizures.

Of the total amount, the cash seizure amounted to Rs 11.01 crore.

The monetary value of the illegal liquor seized is Rs 57.71 crore, while the value of drugs and narcotics seized is Rs 67.35 crore.

The value of the precious metals seized during the same period is Rs 38.55 crore, while the value of freebies/other items (as per the statement) is Rs 162.80 crore.

As per the press statement, the number of unlicensed arms and weapons seized till 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 till the same period, and the number of bombs seized stands at 887.

At the same time, the state CEO’s office had told that extensive drives conducted for the removal of unauthorised political advertisements are underway.

“As per the latest reports, widespread public and private property defacements have been cleared across all districts and the District Election Officers have certified removal of defacement from all the public properties under their jurisdictions,” the press statement from the CEO’s office said.

“The ECI remains committed to ensuring the conduct of polls characterised 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.

–IANS

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