New Delhi: Facing fire from the Opposition over law and order in the state, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government Tuesday launched a three-day campaign against gangsters, with an emphasis on foreign-based operators and their local associates.
Under the “Gangstran te Vaar” campaign, the force rounded up 1,314 “associates and abettors” of 60 gangsters who are based outside of the country and influencing the crime landscape in the state.
“More than 2,000 police teams comprising around 12,000 personnel have conducted raids at identified and mapped locations linked to associates of 60 foreign-based gangsters across Punjab,” state Police chief Gaurav Yadav said in a statement Tuesday.
He said that under the campaign, police personnel have launched intensive search operations against gangsters’ associates in the state. The force is committed to curb “financing, logistics, safe houses, weapon supply chains, and communication networks” of the fugitive gangsters, he said.
Sources in the police said that officials are examining the track records and history of those rounded up, and they will either be formally arrested or let off after “thorough” verification.
The campaign coincided with the state government removing IPS officer Praveen Kumar Sinha, an additional director general of police, as the state intelligence chief, considered a top political post in the police department. The state government also downgraded the chief’s post, and appointed IPS officer Sukhchain Singh Gill, an inspector general-rank officer to the post.
Also Read: Punjab’s deadly new phase of criminal violence — ‘fusion of gangs with terrorism’
Police under criticism
Of late, the Punjab Police has received severe criticism over the law and order situation in the state, which has seen multiple incidents of heinous crimes, such as the killing of a ruling party sarpanch in Amritsar, as well as the murder of a Kabbadi promoter in Mohali.
ਭਗਵੰਤ ਮਾਨ ਨੂੰ ਮੇਰੇ ਤਿੰਨ ਸਵਾਲ:
1. ਗੋਲਡੀ ਬਰਾੜ ਦੀ ਗ੍ਰਿਫ਼ਤਾਰੀ ਬਾਰੇ ਹੁਣ ਕੀ ਹੈ ਨਵਾਂ ਬਿਆਨ ❓
2. ਲਾਰੈਂਸ ਬਿਸ਼ਨੋਈ ਦੀ ਇੰਟਰਵਿਊ ਬਾਰੇ ਦਿਓ ਆਪਣਾ ਵਿਚਾਰ ❓
3. ਜੱਗੂ ਭਗਵਾਨਪੁਰੀਆ ਖਿਲਾਫ਼ ਅਦਾਲਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਬੂਤ ਦੇਣ ਤੋਂ ਕਿਉਂ ਮੁੱਕਰੀ ਸਰਕਾਰ ❓ pic.twitter.com/L8tuJpaHUz
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) January 20, 2026
Earlier on Tuesday, the Punjab DGP Yadav said the police have instituted a dedicated cell in the counter-intelligence department, known as the Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC), to expedite the extradition of fugitive gangsters living abroad. OFTEC is headed by DIG Counter Intelligence Ashish Choudhary.
“These gangsters will be brought to Punjab to face legal action,” DGP Yadav said.
He said the Punjab police has already obtained Red Corner Notices (RCNs) against 23 of the 60 gangsters identified by them, and it will be obtained for the remaining 37 in “within the next three months”.
The war on drugs
The three-day-long intensive campaign against the gangsters comes nearly a year after the Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government launched a dedicated campaign against drugs in the state.
As part of the campaign against drug abuse, the Punjab Police has so far arrested 45,403 individuals on the grounds of smuggling banned substances.
Opposition parties, however, continued to mount attacks against the Mann-led government.
Responding to a social media post of the Punjab unit of the ruling AAP, which said “no gangster will be spared,” former deputy chief minister and the chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, asked the state about the trio of Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.
Bishnoi has been lodged in Ahmedabad Central Jail, while Bhagwanpuria is lodged in Dibrugarh jail, and Brar has been abroad, but gangsters linked to their syndicates continue to operate in the state.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also read: Punjab’s deadly new phase of criminal violence—‘fusion of gangs with terrorism’