Chandigarh, Feb. 12 -- In a first, the Punjab Police have taken 1,450 persons into preventive custody during Operation Prahaar-2, part of the ongoing anti-gangster drive.

The preventive action, initiated under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), marks the first time that the state police have carried out such large-scale preventive detentions to map and monitor criminal elements across the state.

Sections 126 and 170 of the BNSS are preventive provisions meant to maintain public order, replacing similar sections in the CrPC. Section 126 authorises executive magistrates to demand bonds (up to 1 year) to keep the peace, while Section 170 empowers police to make arrests without a warrant to prevent the co...