Himachal seizures: 74 lakh ml liquor, Rs 4 cr cash

As Himachal Pradesh gears up for polls on November 4, flying squads and static surveillance teams of the Election Commission have been seizing cash, liquor and narcotics. They have seized Rs 4.33 crore in cash so far and 74.71 lakh ml of liquor in the fortnight between October 12 and October 27, besides various quantities of drugs.

As per the rules, anyone carrying more than Rs 2.5 lakh in cash needs to carry documentary evidence justifying the reason. With the apple season in Kinnaur at its fag end, many growers and traders, after selling their produce in places such as Delhi and carrying loads of cash, are getting back to the state and being intercepted by flying squads.

"The apple farmers who are coming back from cities after selling their produce are facing some degree of harassment," says Prakash Thakur, Authority Member at Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. "Many of them are carrying cash and they do get nervous at times when they are intercepted by the authorities."

Recently, a man was intercepted carrying Rs 9.95 lakh in the Shimla constituency. The money was returned to him when he produced the documents to prove that it was from the sale of apples.

"In case of apple traders, we are asking them to produce documents in support of the sales they have made. If a huge amount of money is being carried by an apple trader, the Income Tax department is being informed. In most of the cases, the money has been returned after the documents were produced and verified," Kinnaur deputy commissioner Rajiv Shankar said.

Of the Rs 4.33 crore cash recovered, Rs 2.16 crore was seized under the Excise Act out of which around 61.22 lakh has been returned after justifications were provided. The money for which no valid justification is being given is being handed over to the Income Tax authorities.

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