Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], Punjab Police on Friday said elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth voting and wide participation of voters in the state ahead of the polling day. Voting for all 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, "All necessary security arrangements have been made and a total of 81,000 people, including Central Armed Police Forces, Punjab Police and Home Guards personnel ,07 personnel have been deployed." Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Friday said the force has been effectively deployed in all the districts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to ensure free, fair and peaceful conduct of Lok Sabha elections 2024. 24,451 polling stations have been set up at 14,551 polling station locations across the state, out of which 5000 have been identified as critical/unsafe polling stations. 328 candidates are in the fray for 13 seats in Punjab.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that more than 50 per cent of the total force i.e. 47,28 personnel including CAPFs/SAP have been deployed at 24,451 polling stations to ensure that voters exercise their franchise. An intuitive and hassle free method. He said that all the candidates contesting from 13 parliamentary constituencies of Punjab have been provided adequate security as per the prescribed norms. The DGP said 351 flying squad teams, 351 static surveillance teams and 348 quick reaction teams are also under his surveillance. Responding to a report regarding cash/liquor/drugs or untoward incidents in the state, Special DGP Law and Order, Arpit Shukla said the police have already set up 205 well-coordinated strong inter-state checkpoints across the state. So that their movement can be restricted.Bootleggers, drug smugglers and anti-social elements. He said that adjacent states including Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh will also set up mirror checkpoints at all entry and exit points leading to the state of Punjab. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)-cum-State Police Nodal Officer Elections, Punjab MF Farooqui said that Punjab Police has made unprecedented recoveries since the introduction of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) on March 16, 2024, and has made recoveries/ 13.1 Huge quantity of unaccounted cash, licit/illicit liquor, drugs, precious metals etc. worth Rs. 642.24 crore including Rs. crore cash were seized. He said a total of 398350 licensed weapons have been deposited in the state, which is more than 95 per year. Percentage of total licensed weapons in the state. He further said that they have received 405 complaints from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, which have been responded to within the stipulated time and 32 cases related to electoral crimes have been registered during the MCC.Apart from this, facilities are being provided to all the districts. He said that along with the DGP Punjab, there are 193 reserves to ensure quick response by patrolling teams in case of any emergency, the ADGP said the entire state has been divided into 2098 route zones or sectors, Which has been duly covered by strong police patrolling teams and for better coordination at least 11881 wireless sets have been provided to all the districts including 102 shadow areas identified in eight districts of Punjab State. He said these patrol parties have been provided with internet-enabled tablets, which help officers identify the patrol party nearest to any incident site for quick response.

Meanwhile, 117 storage/counting centers have been set up in the state of Punjab and they are covered with three-tier security including CAPFs, SA and district police respectively till the counting of votes is over.