Representatives of both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were booked for violating the model code of conduct for the Assembly elections for carrying cash meant for allegedly bribing voters.
The Byatarayanapura police on Saturday evening arrested the former councillor and Congress member Somashekhar for allegedly distributing cash among voters in Kasturbanagar.
The police, acting on a complaint by BJP workers, found Rs. 17,000 on him, for which the former councillor had no explanation to offer besides alleging that the BJP workers had planted it on him. He was released on bail.
In another part of the city, the police and election officials raided the office of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike councillor L. Govindraju of Ganesh Mandir ward in Banagiri Layout. The BJP man had Rs. 23,000 in his office.
In Ramamurthynagar, two BJP workers were arrested for allegedly carrying money to distribute among voters. Vijendra and Murali, who had Rs. 1.6 lakh on them, were both supporters of N.S. Nandish Reddy, BJP candidate from the K.R. Puram constituency and were campaigning for him.
Rs. 43.46 lakh seized
Police and Election Commission officials raided the house of a Congress leader in Maruthinagar, near Kogilu Main Road, and seized Rs. 43.46 lakh on Saturday afternoon. The house of Mallikarjunappa was searched following a tip-off.
Tender coconuts too
In another case, 10 persons, including Bharatiya Janata Party workers, were arrested for allegedly bribing voters with tender coconuts near the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike office in Bommanahalli.
The Madiwala police seized about 500 coconuts along with 10 bicycles. Three of the arrested men were vendors.
