Bantwal: The election flying squad raided the B C Road branch of a cooperative bank and seized 1,222 saris packed in ten bundles on Thursday April 19. The raid was conducted based in a tip off received from a person that effort was being made in the town to lure voters by distributing saris.

Though the complaint on distribution of saris was made on Wednesday, the officials had not acted immediately. Therefore, the concerned person contacted the state election commission at Bengaluru which led to the bank raid, the informant claimed. The bank was raided at 11:30 am on Thursday after receiving instructions from the election commission, informed Rajesh and Seetharam Bhat, Head of the investigation team.

The bank officials claimed that the saris were brought before the election process was initiated. They were meant for distribution among the members of the bank as uniform. The saris were kept in the bank as it is easier for members to collect them from there, but distribution of saris was withheld as election was announced, they said.

It is understood that during the raid, the officials failed to provide relevant bills towards the purchase of the saris and only fumbled when questioned about the people to whom the saris were supposed to be distributed to.

A. Govinda Prabhu gave the comaplaint and claimed that the sari distribution has been going on at many other places including the B.C. Road branch of the bank. “The complaint was given to the election commission here, but the officials failed to take action out of fear towards the ruling party in the state. Only after the state election commission was informed, did they then conduct the raid,” he said.