1,500 Grocery Kits Seized in Wayanad, Allegations of Voter Inducement

Wayanad police seized 1,500 provision kits and 1,200 tobacco kits suspected of influencing voters ahead of Kerala elections. The BJP claimed the kits were from a temple devotee or for the Vishu festival, but the flying squad confiscated them.

A day before polling in Kerala for the general elections, Wayanad police on Thursday registered a case over the seizure of around 1,500 kits, containing daily provisions from a trade establishment at Sulthan Bathery here, which are suspected to be have been readied to ''influence voters''.

The kits containing miscellaneous provisions, including coconut oil, sugar, and tea powder among other things, were seized by the Election Commission's flying squad, jointly with the Sulthan Bathery police.

Police reached the spot, acting on a tip off that kits of household provisions were being packed allegedly to be distributed at some nearby places.

A case has been registered under certain sections of the Indian Penal Code along with section 123 (1) of the Representation of People Act (bribery).

A police official added that they had also seized around 1,200 kits containing tobacco products. Meanwhile, similar grocery kits were seized by the flying squad of the Election Commission from various other places in the district.

Some of them were seized from workers and office-bearers of the BJP, according to the allegations of opposition parties, including the ruling CPI(M) and the Congress. At one place, the kits were seized from a BJP local leader's house.

BJP candidate and the party's state chief K Surendran clamed that the kits were prepared at some temple by a devotee and that they were being portrayed as kits used to induce voters in the election.

Other BJP leaders claimed that some kits were prepared for distribution as part of the Vishu festival. ''But we received it late. We kept it for distributing after the elections,'' they claimed.

The flying squad seized all the products.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)