Chandigarh, April 19 (IANS) With Lok Sabha elections being only 11 days away, over 2.61 lakh weapons have been deposited with authorities in Punjab, a senior election department officer said here Saturday.
Additional chief electoral officer Supreet Singh Gulati said that over 2.61 lakh licenced weapons were deposited by owners with the district authorities and police.
The weapons will be kept by the authorities till the polling is over.
Elections to all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab take place April 30. As many as 253 candidates are in the fray.
Gulati said that paramilitary forces have been deployed at all 39 inter-state entry points of Punjab to check any flow of money, drug or illicit liquor. He said that 35 companies of have been already put on election related duties and 147 more companies were expected to report in the state by April 26.
He said that 2,592 cases have been registered by the Punjab Police, static surveillance teams and flying squads.
Nearly 4,700 litres of illicit liquor was seized by authorities across Punjab Friday.
Various agencies have recovered drugs, liquor, intoxicants and other things worth over Rs.700 crore since March 5 – when the election schedule was announced – in the state.