CHENNAI: The Flying Squad of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday seized Rs 8.4 lakh from the residence of A.C. Shanmugam, President of the New Justice Party (NJP), an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), who is contesting the Vellore Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket.

ECI officials said they are checking the source of the money to ascertain if it was meant for distribution among the voters.

During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, polling in Vellore was suspended after around Rs 100 crore was seized from the residence of a close relative of the DMK candidate, D.M. Kathir Anand, who's the son of senior DMK leader and present state minister, S. Duraimurugan.

Polling was held later in August that year following the directive of the Supreme Court, in which Kathir Anand emerged victorious by a slender margin of 8,141 votes.

On April 7, the ECI's Flying Squad seized Rs 7.5 lakh from the residence of a person named Natarajan, a close relative of Kathir Anand.

Kathir Anand has been renominated from Vellore by the DMK.