27 Jan 2012, 1606 hrs IST

India News: Lucknow, 12 country-made pistols and two foreign guns were among the cache of arms and ammunition that the UP Police seized, here today, in raids conducted.Security officials have arrested a man and an inquiry has been launched.

Ahead of polls, police has stepped up security and is conducting raids on daily basis with an aim to curb unscrupulous activities before elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, elections would be held to the 403-member legislative assembly, in seven phases between February 8 and March 3.

The other states where assembly elections are scheduled to take place are Manipur, Goa, Punjab, and Uttarakhand.

Uttar Pradesh is home to 200 million people and provides the biggest single bloc of seats in the Indian parliament. Ironically, it is also one of the country's worst performers in several socio-economic indices.

The results would be declared on March 6.