Bengaluru: The Election Commission on Sunday said Rs 1.88 crore cash and liquor worth Rs 87.19 lakh were seized in the last 24 hours in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.

 

The general elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies.

 

The Election Commission said the Static Surveillance Team seized Rs 1.44 crore cash at Hiriyur in Chitradurga parliamentary constituency and the remaining from other places. In the same constituency at Challakere, the Excise Department seized 14,688 litres of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).

According to EC officials, since the MCC came into force, the flying squads, static surveillance teams and police authorities have seized Rs 17.66 crore cash, Rs 18.85 lakh worth of freebies, 7.69 lakh litres of liquor worth over Rs 24.25 crore, 87.04 kg narcotic substances worth over Rs 75 lakh, gold worth Rs 1.27 crore, silver worth Rs 21.47 lakh and diamond worth Rs nine lakh have been seized.

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The total seizure made by the various agencies in view of elections is worth Rs 46.45 crore ever since the MCC came into effect on March 16.

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Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.

The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.

The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.

In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.

The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.


The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.