Chandigarh : A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the General Elections 2024, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday that "Punjab Police is fully geared up to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in the border state."
Polling for the general elections in Punjab will be held in the last phase of the polls on June 1. The DGP, accompanied by Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla, virtually briefed all the senior police officers from headquarters here to take stock of the security arrangements in the state ahead of the general elections.
Pertinently, with the announcement of the election dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force.
DGP Gaurav Yadav directed all the officers to strictly adhere to all aspects of the Model Code of Conduct and follow all the instructions and guidelines from the Election Commission of India for holding free and fair elections, according to an official statement from the Information and Public Relations Department, Punjab, issued on Sunday.
The DGP said that a special campaign has been launched to arrest proclamation offenders (POs) and parole jumpers and to execute non-bailable warrants (NBWs). SSPs and CPs have also been asked to ensure surveillance over people indulging in the sale of illicit liquor, narcotics and psychotropic substances, he added.
The DGP also directed the CPs/SSPs to ensure the deposition of weapons in compliance with the ECI norms, the statement said.
Sharing more details, Special DGP Arpit Shukla said that security has been beefed up across the state and field officers have been asked to carry out an audit of the police force and muster 75 per cent of the police force for deployment during elections. All the CPs/SSPs have already been asked to keep vigil around the anti-social elements and carry out flag marches in their jurisdictions to build confidence among the general public, he added.
He said that the checking at interstate borders has been intensified to check the movement of criminals, bootleggers and drug smugglers. The 25 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed in vulnerable districts of the state to instill confidence among the general public as well as to dominate sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas in the state, the DGP added.
The 25 companies include five companies of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), 15 of the Border Security Force (BSF) and five of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the statement said. Meanwhile, the Spl DGP said that all the police officers have also circulated the guidelines issued by ECI, the statement added.