Over 43,000 cops deployed for Feb 21 Gujarat civic polls

Over 43,000 police personnelwill be deployed for the civic polls in six major cities ofGujarat on February 21, state Director General of PoliceAshish Bhatia said on Friday.

Counting of votes for the polls in Ahmedabad, Rajkot,Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar will take place onFebruary 23.

The deployment would include 25,000 personnel fromregular units, 15,000 homeguards, and 3,000 from the statereserve police force (SRPF), he said.

Bhatia said police had, since January 23 when the pollnotification was issued, seized liquor worth Rs 8 crore and Rs1.97 lakh during searches.

Since last month, over 48,000 licensed firearms havebeen temporarily seized from owners, and 1.5 lakh people wereplaced under preventive detection, the DGP added.

In a statement, Bhatia said extra forces would bedeployed in sensitive polling booths, adding that 97 checkposts have been created along the state's borders in view ofthe polls.