The police in Ghaziabad on Friday seized 16 cartons of liquor from the election office of a candidate who is contesting the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and lodged an FIR against him.

The police said it received the information about a huge stock of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) being stored in the office of Amar Pal Sharma, who is contesting from the Sahibabad constituency.

Sharma is being fielded by the Congress, which is an election alliance partner of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

At 2.00 p.m., the police raided the election office of Sharma where it recovered 12 cartons containing bottles of whisky and 4 cartons containing half-filled whisky bottles.

"An FIR has been filed against Amar Pal Sharma," a police official said.

"We are keeping a strict vigil on any kind of illegalities in the elections. So, the police are acting 24 hours to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner," said Superintendent of Police Salman Taj Patil.