Punjab bypoll: Drugs, liquor, freebies valued at Rs 57.47 crore seized

Chandigarh, Nov 4 (IANS) After the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct for the by-election to the Tarn Taran Assembly constituency, Punjab Police, following the directions of the Election Commission, has made seizures of drugs, liquor, cash and freebies valued at over Rs 57.47 crore.

According to details, from October 7, the day the Model Code of Conduct came into effect, till November 3, the police in the Tarn Taran constituency seized 51,429.50 litres of liquor valued at Rs 32,89,160, narcotic substances of Rs 56,67,10,500 (21,811.10 grams), cash amounting to Rs 9,73,480, and other items valued at Rs 37,85,700.

Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said the police have been directed to maintain round-the-clock surveillance through CCTV cameras at all checkpoints in the constituency to curb illegal smuggling activities.

He added that strict action is being ensured against those attempting to influence voters by distributing cash or any other kind of freebies during the elections.

The Chief Electoral Officer said there are a total of 192,838 voters in the constituency, which includes 100,933 men, 91,897 women and eight third-gender voters. There are 1,357 service voters, 1,657 voters aged above 85 years, 306 NRI voters, and 1,488 voters with disabilities. The number of young voters aged between 18 and 19 years stands at 3,333.

He said there are 222 polling stations set up at 114 polling station locations, of which 60 are urban and 162 are rural.

The Tarn Taran bypoll on November 11 was necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal, who had won the seat with 52,935 votes, defeating Shiromani Akali Dal's Harmeet Singh Sandhu.

Fifteen candidates are in the fray. They include Sukhwinder Kaur of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Harjit Singh Sandhu of the BJP, Harmeet Singh Sandhu of the Aam Aadmi Party, and Karanbir Singh of the Congress.

--IANS

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