Punjab Police launches crackdown against associates of gangsters; one arrested, 30 detained

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], September 21 (ANI): Amid the ongoing drive to break the gangster-terrorist nexus in Punjab, the state police on Thursday launched a state-wide crackdown against various gangsters and raided over 1159 suspected places and hideouts of their associates.

As per the police officials, one person was arrested while 30 were detained for further questioning.

The simultaneous raids were carried out from 7 am to 2 pm 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, an official statement from the police department said.

Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that all the Commissioners of Police (CPs) and Superintendents of police (SSPs) were directed to depute an 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 further 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 of heroin and one 32-bore pistol along with five live cartridges during the operation.

“Apart from this, several 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.

Shukla also said that the searches were planned after the questioning of several persons arrested during recently busted modules backed by different gangsters.