Drugs, cash worth over Rs 86 crore seized in poll-bound Manipur

IMPHAL: Ahead of the Manipur Assembly elections, law-enforcing agencies have so far seized drugs, cash and other illegally procured items valued at Rs 102 crore, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajesh Agrawal said on Thursday. The CEO said that of the total, various drugs valued at Rs 84.7 crore and cash amounting to Rs 1.47 crore were seized by various agencies, including the Income Tax Department, since the Election Commission announced the election schedule on January 8.

He said that to curb the illegal movement of people and inimical elements, over 285 checkpoints are now operational across Manipur, where the two phases elections to the 60-seat Assembly would be held on February 28 and March 5. The CEO said that so far 18,039 licensed arms have been deposited with the police and this is 80.53 per cent of the total licensed arms in Manipur. In the 2017 election, 59.76 per cent licensed arms were deposited with the police. Agrawal said that 6,456 persons have been detained for various reasons so far and a total of 328 FIRs were registered from August last year, while 60 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He said that an adequate number of Central armed paramilitary forces (CAPF) would be deployed to conduct the Assembly polls freely, fairly, and smoothly. As part of the confidence-building measures, the CAPFs are already deployed and are being effectively used in area domination and providing security in vulnerable locations. He said that a total of 173 candidates, including 15 women, are contesting in the first phase of elections and 92 aspirants, including two women are in the fray for the second phase of polling.

As part of the continuous updation of the electoral rolls, 13,203 new voters have been added to the voters' list, increasing the electorate to 20,48,169. (IANS)

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