New Delhi, Jan 1 (TIWN / IANS) Delhi Police penalised a total of 509 people on New Year's eve for drunk driving, an official said on Tuesday.

"We issued 509 drunk driving challans on the eve of New Year. Majority of them were youngsters," Delhi Police Deputy Spokesperson Anil Mittal told IANS. 

The number is, however, less compared to the drunk driving cases of last (2018) New Year's eve, when at least 765 people were challaned. 

Thousands of police personnel were deployed across the national capital to ensure New Year celebrations go off smoothly. 

Special traffic arrangements were made to regulate the movement of revellers, police said.

To prevent drunk driving in the national capital on Monday, Delhi Police had earlier conveyed the message of safe driving with warning that any incident of hooliganism and drunk driving would be dealt with strictly.