3.54 lakh licensed arms deposited with police ahead of Punjab Assembly polls

Complying with directions of Election Commission, 3,54,075 licensed weapons have been deposited with police ahead of February 20 Punjab Assembly elections, state's Chief Electoral Officer Dr S Karuna Raju said here on Wednesday. ''This is 91.10 per cent of the total 3,90,275 licensed weapons in the state,'' he said. The licensed gun owners deposit their firearms in various police stations. He said some of the persons having licensed weapons, including security personnel at nationalized/private banks, will have to approach the deputy commissioner for any genuine exemptions and complaint redressal. Raju said after the model code of conduct came into force in the state for the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections, various enforcement teams seized psychotropic substances amounting to Rs 44.49 crore till January 18. Giving details, he said surveillance teams seized 6.60 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 2 crore. He said 1,088.01 kg of poppy husk, 11.03 kg of opium, 3,370.82 grams of heroin and 123.507 grams of smack were also seized. Enforcement wings also recovered psychotropic substances amounting to Rs 44.49 crore besides confiscating unaccounted cash of Rs 1.74 crore, he added in an official statement. From a security point of view, he said as many as 2,268 route/zone patrolling teams, 740 static surveillance teams, 792 flying squads and 351 video surveillance teams have been deployed in the state to keep vigil on inducements including drugs. ''Adequate number of central para military forces comprised of personnel from the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and Sahastra Seema Bal are already making area domination exercises at the Indo-Pak border adjoining areas in big cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar,'' he said. Besides, 28 Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officers have been deployed to keep vigil on drug smuggling, he added. He said as many as 1,088 vulnerable hamlets have been identified. Besides, 2,376 persons have been identified as probable sources of trouble, he said, adding that out of these persons preventive action had already been initiated against 1,129. The official said 2,221 cases of non-bailable warrant have been executed, while execution in 191 cases is under process. As many as 6,339 ''nakas'' (check points) are operational across the state as part of heightened security measures for the next month's polls, he added.

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