CHANDIGARH: A senior election commission official said there has been a "substantial increase" in the number of first-time voters in Punjab, almost 2 per cent of the total 19.7 million electorates in the state. Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer Vijoy Singh said the electoral roll has 3,67,077 voters in the age group of 18-19 years. He added that the number of voters in Punjab is 1,97,49,964, including 1,04,40,310 males and 93,09,274 females.
There are 380 third-gender voters, and the total number of Non-Resident Indian voters are 281, he said. He added that 2,260 polling stations would be set up in Punjab for the 117 assembly constituencies. ADGP (Elections) HS Bhawra said 1,330 FIRs were registered under the NDPS Act in the past four months, in a brief about the pre-emptive measures taken by the Punjab Police in the past four months. He said "1,565 people were arrested under the NDPS Act," with around 2,000 proclaimed offenders, including absconders, rounded up from across the state.
Bhawra revealed that a total of 13,387 non-bailable warrants were executed and 5,276 potential trouble-makers were identified out of which 3,425 were taken into preventive custody. He said 22 sniffer dogs have been deployed in various districts and checking was being carried out for narcotic substance with the help of these dogs. He said that 43 officers of the Narcotic Control Bureau are currently deputed in Punjab and checking has been tightened to stop inflow of drugs to the state. Also, in its move against illicit arms, 123 weapons have been seized.
