7K cops to ensure smooth polling in district

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Patiala, February 19

Over 7,000 police personnel, including 3,200 of the district police and 2,800 of paramilitary forces, and rapid response teams (RRTs) have been deployed in the district to conduct a free and fair polling for the Punjab Assembly elections tomorrow.

105 vulnerable polling stations

• District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Hans said 105 polling stations in the district had been declared ‘vulnerable’, while 25 stations had been tagged as ‘critical’ by the Election Commission. He added that extra police force was deployed at vulnerable and critical polling stations.

SSP Sandeep Garg said patrolling teams in each constituency would keep a watch to avoid any untoward incident. Besides, officers of the SP and DSP ranks will keep a 24×7 vigil to avoid any nuisance on the polling day.

The SSP said, “We have already taken all security measures for smooth conduct of the elections, exactly as per the Election Commissioner of India guidelines. Any unscrupulous activity will not be allowed and the troublemakers will be dealt with an iron hand.”

Meanwhile, District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Hans said 105 polling stations in the district had been declared ‘vulnerable’, while 25 stations had been tagged as ‘critical’ by the Election Commission. Hans added that extra police force was deployed at vulnerable and critical polling stations.

Hans said they had set up eight pink polling stations, which would be managed entirely by women, in an attempt to encourage women voters’ participation. Besides, six polling stations would be managed by people with disabilities (PwDs). Apart from this, 56 designated model polling stations would be centre of attraction for voters on the polling day.