Punjab Police launch crackdown against associates of gangsters, 1159 places raided across state

Chandigarh, September 21, 2023:

          Amidst the ongoing drive to break the gangster-terrorist nexus in the state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police on Thursday launched a state-wide crackdown against various gangsters and raided over 1159 suspected places/hideouts of their associates across the state.

          The simultaneous raids were carried out from 7am to 2pm on the directives of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, wherein, all the residential and other premises of associates, relatives and friends linked with various gangsters, were thoroughly searched in all the 28 police districts in the state.

          Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that all the CPs/SSPs were directed to depute adequate number of police parties to conduct these raids and meticulously check the whereabouts of these associates to make this operation successful, which was aimed at disrupting the nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers based in India and Abroad. Police teams were also asked to detain suspicious persons during the operation, he added.

          He said that around 625 police teams, involving over 2500 police personnel, carried out this operation at as many as 1159 places linked with associates of various gangsters.

          The Special DGP said that the Police teams have also arrested one person and recovered 120 grams heroin and one .32 bore pistol along with five live cartridges during the operation.

          He said that, apart from this, 30 persons have also been rounded up for questioning during the operation for further verification and incriminating material has been seized from their possession. The material and data collected during the search operation are being examined further, he added.

          "Today’s searches were planned after the questioning of several persons arrested during recently busted modules backed by different gangsters," the Special DGP added.