Rs 20.14 cr unaccounted cash seized in poll run up in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 20.14 crore and alcohol worth over Rs 26 crore has been seized in Karnataka since the model code of conduct came into effect on March 16, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
Total seizures, which include various freebies, amount to Rs 60.38 crore, they said
The general elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May seven for its 28 constituencies.
According to a statement issued by the office of Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, since the Model Code of Conduct came into force, the flying squads, static surveillance teams and police authorities have seized Rs 20.14 crore cash, Rs 65.43 lakh freebies, 8.44 lakh litres of liquor worth over Rs 26.35 crore, 181.80 kg narcotic substances worth over Rs 1.33 crore, 14 kg gold worth over Rs 9 crore, 55.75 kg silver worth over Rs 26 lakh and 21.17 carat diamonds worth Rs 9 lakh among others.
They have also registered 909 cases with regard to seizure of cash, liquor, drugs, precious metal and freebies while 94,417 arms have been deposited, 882 arms were impounded, 15 arms licences have been cancelled, 7,819 cases were booked under preventive sections of CrPC, out of which 8,406 persons were bounded over.
The Excise Department has booked 922 heinous cases, 797 cases for breach of licence conditions, 49 NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) and 3,342 cases under Section 15 (a) of Karnataka Excise Act 1965 and also 535 different types of vehicles have been seized.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Israeli airstrikes on Rafah kill at least 22 people, Palestinian health officials say
Rafah (PTI): Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials said. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old.
Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the start of the war and has threatened to send in ground troops, saying Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold in the coastal enclave. Over a million Palestinians have sought refuge in the city on the Egyptian border. The United States and others have urged Israel not to invade, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe.
The overnight strikes hit three family homes. The first killed 12 people, including four siblings aged 9 to 27, according to records at the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The second strike killed seven people, including a 33-year-old father and his 5-day-old boy, according to hospital records. The third strike killed three siblings, aged 23, 19 and 12.
The war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, around two-thirds of them children and women.
Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because the groups fight in densely populated areas. But the military rarely accounts for individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
