New Delhi, Nov 5 (PTI) The Delhi Police arrested 281 people -- 138 for selling and supplying firecrackers and 143 for bursting them -- between September 29 and Diwali on Thursday, according to data provided by the force on Friday.

Firecrackers weighing a total of 19,702.489 kg were seized during the period.

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Ahead of the festive season, the Delhi government had announced a complete ban on firecrackers till January 1, 2022.

The Delhi Police has registered 125 cases for selling and supplying of firecrackers and arrested 138 people from September 29 till Thursday, it said.

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It registered 210 cases for bursting of firecrackers and arrested 143 people.

The Delhi Police last year had released data of PCR calls received and firecrackers recovered on Diwali night, but no such data was given this year.

The Delhi Police contacted 699 schools in the national capital to spread awareness about the ban on firecrackers among children, it said, adding that the maximum of 125 schools were contacted in Shahdara district, followed by 95 in north and 83 in outer north district.

A total of 706 teams were constituted to enforce the directives. The maximum number of 152 teams constituted in east district, followed by 95 in northwest district.

The police had said that even though most of the manufacturing and storage units were shut in the national capital, people engaged in the business managed to procure firecrackers at lower prices from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in huge quantities.

Firecrackers were burst at several areas in the national capital on Diwali.

Residents of Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi, Burari in North Delhi, Paschim Vihar in West Delhi and Shahdara in East Delhi reported incidents of firecracker bursting as early as 7 pm on Diwali despite the ban.

Last year on Diwali, the Delhi Police received over 2,000 PCR calls from people complaining about the bursting of firecrackers. Over 1,300 kg of crackers were seized.

The total number of people arrested on Diwali last year was 850.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)