Psychotropic substances of Rs 23.36 cr seized in Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 13 Jan, 2022 01:19 PM
Chandigarh, Jan 13 (IANS) After the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 23.8 crore in violation of code, besides confiscating unaccounted cash till January 12, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab S. Karuna Raju said on Thursday.
He said the surveillance teams have seized 797,66.512 litres of liquor valued at Rs 24 lakh. Similarly, the enforcement wings have recovered psychotropic substances amounting to Rs 23.36 crore, besides confiscating unaccounted cash of Rs 4 lakh, he added.
The Chief Electoral Officer revealed that as many as 1,028 highly sensitive areas have been identified.
Besides, 1,131 such persons have been identified, who can create disturbance, he said, adding that out of these persons action had already been initiated against 362 while the remaining would also be brought to book.
He said in security point of view preventive measures had been taken against 31 persons. He informed there were 998 non-bailable warrant cases under process in the state, of which, action had already been initiated against 873 persons under non-bailable warrants after the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct.
Teams have also removed as many as 49,852 defacements of public properties, while 16,900 on private properties.
As per the directions of the election commission, Raju said till date 12,684 out of 297,140 licensed weapons had been deposited in the state, whereas 17 weapons without licenses were seized in the state.
He also informed that 84 per cent of staff to be deployed in election duties have got their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while, 49 per cent staff is fully vaccinated.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
