In a bid to conduct by-polls in a peaceful manner, Punjab Police on Saturday claimed to have finalised all security arrangements.
To avoid any untoward situation, the Punjab Home department has imposed section 144 in the constituencies where elections will take place. According to the notification issued in this regard, no miscreant will be allowed to disrupt peace.
More than 52,000 police personnel and officers have been deployed at 31,000 polling stations set up across the province to maintain law and order.
In this connection, Punjab Police Inspector General Rao Sardar Khan visited the control room established at the Central Police Office to review security arrangements. The control room will enable police officials to monitor security arrangements till the completion of the election process.
The control room will be linked with all control rooms set up in the electioneering districts, where all the routes will be monitored for a safe delivery of election material and ballot boxes.
Speaking on the occasion, the inspector general said that security personnel will remain on duty until the election process is completed. He said that police personnel can be called in from other districts for deployment in emergency situations.
“Supervisory officers in all sensitive districts, including Lahore and Multan, should ensure monitoring of security arrangements and that no attempt to disrupt peace should be allowed to succeed,” he said and vowed to take immediate action against the violation of the election code of conduct.
For the four constituencies of Lahore, police have deployed over 10,000 officers and personnel at 1,470 polling booths of 466 polling stations established at 189 buildings. According to sources, police have also deployed snipers at different buildings in the four constituencies.
As many as 900 different teams of the Dolphin Squad, Police Response Unit and Elite Force will patrol areas around polling stations. Police will also get support of the anti-riot force to ensure law and order and deal with any emergency situation. Police have announced plans to set up at least 378 checkpoints around the polling stations to keep an eye on miscreants.
Moreover, the election material was delivered to polling stations under strict security.
Lahore DIG (Operations) Sohail Chaudhry said that police monitoring and control rooms have also been established for surveillance and response in the offices of district returning officers, in addition to monitoring from the CPO office and the control and command room of the Punjab Safe Cities Authority.
