Rs. 34.90 lakh seized in poll-bound Arunachal Pradesh

Guwahati, March 20 (IANS) Central agencies monitoring the election process in northeastern states have seized an amount of Rs 34.90 lakh in Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang district, officials said on Wednesday.

The seizure took place on late Tuesday in Longding when police there informed the central agencies working under the Election Commission about interception of the money by a static surveillance team. Sleuths of the Investigation Directorate reached the spot immediately and seized the amount under the Income Tax Act, the officials said.

On directions from the Election Commission and the Central Board of Direct Taxes's Directorate of Income Tax Investigation, a total of 160 officials have been deployed across Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura for monitoring expenditure during the on-going election process in the region.

Teams of officers and inspectors are stationed as surveillance teams at expenditure sensitive locations across the seven states and the Investigation Directorate has activated Air Intelligence Units at all commercial airports in the region. Important railway stations are also under discrete watch.

The officials said that a number of such seizures have taken place in different places during the first week of deployment by the Investigation Directorate, which is working in close coordination with Chief Electoral Officers of states, police authorities, banks, Central Armed Police Forces like the Central Industrial Security Force and central law enforcement agencies.

They are closely monitoring suspicious transactions of high amounts from banks, which, along with District Election Officers, are required to inform the Investigation Directorate of all withdrawals in excess of Rs 10 lakh.

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