New Delhi: Cash seizures from the five states that voted in February-March were more than three times the amount seized during the 2012 elections in these states, despite the post-demonetisation limits on cash withdrawals.
The rise of the seizures from Rs 50.78 crore in 2012 to Rs 184.85 crore challenges the government’s claim that the note recall would cleanse India of the "cancer of corruption".
Liquor, drugs and precious metals too have been seized in huge quantities, making it clear that it was business as usual even after the demonetisation.
Its sheer size and political heft ensured that Uttar Pradesh dominated the lists of seizures in all the categories, including drugs, a sphere where Punjab has earned much notoriety in recent years.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for Rs 119.03 crore in cash seizures, followed by Punjab (Rs 58.02 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 3.38 crore), Goa (Rs 2.24 crore) and Manipur (Rs 2.18 crore).
Some 22.43 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 64.66 crore were confiscated in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab coming a distant second at 12.43 litres of liquor and lahan (an illicit brew), worth Rs 13.36 crore. Of the 6,264 kilograms of a variety of drugs seized from the five states during the elections, over half (3,218kg) came from Uttar Pradesh while Punjab accounted for 2,598kg.
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