Liquor worth over Rs 29 crore seized from Channapatna Assembly segment: EC

Bengaluru: Nearly three lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 29 crore have been seized from Channapatna Assembly segment, which goes to by-polls along with Shiggaon and Sandur in Karnataka, on Wednesday.

Among the three constituencies, the spotlight is on Channapatna, where Union Minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil has crossed swords with Congress heavyweight C P Yogeeshwara in a prestigious battle.

According to the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, seizures made by the police, excise and other officials from October 16 to November 11 totaled Rs 33.33 crore — over 300 litres of liquor from Shiggaon, 2926 litres of liquor from Sandur and 2,95,395 litres of liquor worth Rs over 29 crore from Channapatna.

Meanwhile, 8.2 kgs of narcotics/drugs were seized from Shiggaon.

More than seven lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in about 770 polling stations in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna, where a total of 45 candidates are in the fray.

By-polls for Sandur, Shiggaon, and Channapatna are necessitated, as the seats fell vacant following the election of their respective representatives — E Tukaram of Congress, former CM Basavaraj Bommai of BJP, and H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) — to Lok Sabha in the May elections.