TW Newsdesk, Nov 25: A total of 135 gazetted Punjab Police officers of different ranks have been deputed across the state as part of a night domination exercise to prevent any terrorist or criminal act, state police chief Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota said today.

Director-General of Police Singh said the officers have been deputed in compliance with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s order and we have intensified the night patrolling across the state.

While chairing a crime review meeting in Amritsar, Randhawa had on Tuesday directed the police force to increase night patrolling across the state to maintain law and order.

On the intervening night of November 24 and 35, the deputy chief minister had also made surprise calls to police officers deputed for night patrolling to check if they were on their job.

The development came at a moment when Punjab has been witnessing a huge inflow of hand grenades and tiffin bombs along with other weapons, DGP Singh said in a statement.

Recently, the state has also seen a couple of grenade blasts including at CIA Nawanshahr and Cantonment area in Pathankot besides the recovery of an unexploded hand grenade from the Zira area, he pointed out.

The DGP said every police district has been divided into sectors and one gazetted officer of DSP or SP rank has been deputed for each sector to ensure night patrolling in their jurisdiction.

He said apart from the routine ‘naka‘ (observation posts) and vehicle checking, the deputed officers have also been directed to keep vigil at vulnerable spots like railway stations, bus stands, religious places, RSS ‘shakhas’ and other vital spots.

District police chiefs, especially those in border areas, have also been asked to give special attention to drones and suspicious persons moving in the vulnerable areas.