60,000 police personnel, drones deployed in Delhi for Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) The Delhi Police has made robust security arrangements for the Lok Sabha election in the city on Saturday, deploying over 60,000 personnel on the ground to ensure peaceful, free and fair polling, officials said.

They said the city police are also maintaining a strict vigil in areas bordering Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

According to the department, 51 companies of paramilitary forces and 13,500 home guards from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, besides drones and CCTV cameras will also strengthen the security apparatus.

Voting for all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi began Saturday morning in the sixth phase of the general election.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Election Cell) Sanjay Sehrawat told PTI that an elaborate arrangement has been made to ensure peaceful voting.

“Around 60,000 police personnel have been deployed in Delhi and at least 33,000 of them are guarding voting centres. There are 2,628 voting centres, of which 429 are ‘sensitive’. Extra paramilitary personnel with drones and CCTV cameras have been deployed in these sensitive poll centres,” he said.

On Friday, a flag march was carried out under the supervision of Special Commissioner of Police (law and order, zone II) Madhup Tewari in the South East and South districts, covering the areas of Jamia, Shaheen Bagh, Okhla Industrial Area, Ambedkar Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Malviya Nagar and Tigri.

Another police officer said checking has been intensified at Delhi borders.

The Delhi Police has recovered around Rs 14 crore of unaccountable cash since the Model Code of Conduct came into force, he said.