New Delhi: An overwhelming majority of the gangsters operating from abroad and wanted by the Punjab Police are based in the United States, according to state police records. Of the 61 gangsters operating from foreign soil, 18 are hiding in the US, followed by the United Arab Emirates, where 9 such wanted fugitives are based, records show.
A large number of these gangsters belong to the gangs run by Lawrence Bishnoi and Arju Bishnoi, the Lucky Patial-led Bambiha gang, Gopy Ghanshampuria gang and the gang run by the Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh alias Rinda and Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.
Gangsters running criminal syndicates from foreign soil have been a headache for Indian law enforcement agencies, especially in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, where several high-profile killings have been carried out on their instructions. They have also helped supply all components, such as weapons, finances and logistics, before and after the crimes.
In the last few years, Punjab has been rocked by several killings including the murder of famous Punjabi singer Subhdeep Singh, also known as Siddhu Moosewala, and attacks on the security installations such as police stations and posts in Punjab and Haryana, as well as an attack on the Punjab Police intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali.
The role of US-based Satwinder Singh alias Goldy Brar had emerged in the killing of Moosewala in May 2022, while Rinda and Landa were found to be the masterminds behind the attack on the Punjab intelligence wing headquarters the same month.
In recent months, Brazil-based gangster Prabhdeep Singh alias Prabh Dasuwal and UK-based Balwinder Singh Doni alias Doni Bal had taken responsibility for the gruesome killings of a sarpanch from the ruling Aam Admi Party in Amritsar and a Kabaddi promoter in Mohali.
Apart from the US and the UAE, six gangsters are currently operating from Canada, while 15 gangsters are in the United Kingdom, Germany and Europe. Three gangsters are operating from Australia, two from either Thailand or Malaysia and one each from Greece and Indonesia.
The Punjab Police launched a campaign ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’ against the foot soldiers of these foreign-based gangsters operating in the state, and arrested 3,256 suspects during its three-day campaign.
The first phase of the campaign, called ‘Operation Prahar’, was carried out by as many as 2,000 police teams, comprising 12,000 personnel, deployed to carry out raids at locations linked to associates of 60 foreign-based gangsters across Punjab, a Punjab Police spokesperson said earlier this week.
Special Director General of Police (Special DGP) Law and Order Arpit Shukla said Thursday that investigators initially rounded up 4,871 individuals, of whom 3,256 have been arrested.
Launching the campaign Tuesday, state police chief Gaurav Yadav had said the police had already identified a 60-foreign based gangsters, who were carrying out criminal activities in the state. To streamline the process for their extradition, DGP Yadav said, the Punjab Police had instituted a dedicated cell in its counter-intelligence unit. The unit, named Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC), will be headed by a Deputy Inspector General Rank officer.
He had also said that the Punjab Police had already obtained Red Corner Notices (RCNs) from Interpol against 23 of the identified gangsters. “The process to issue Red Corner Notices against the remaining 37 foreign-based gangsters will be completed in a time-bound manner within the next three months,” he said.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)