IEP CHANDIGARH, February 14
Further tightening the noose around gangster-terrorist nexus to make Punjab a crime-free state as per the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police on Tuesday conducted raids at suspected hideouts of persons linked with Gangster Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. The simultaneous raids were conducted at the residential and other premises linked to the gangster in all the districts across the state. Notably, this was the fourth such raid conducted at the suspected places of different terrorists and gangsters in less than two months. Earlier, Punjab Police had conducted raids at suspected hideouts of Arsh Dalla, Lakhbir Landa, Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that as many as 2371 suspected hideouts of anti-social elements linked with Jaggu Bhagwanpuria were raided during a day-long operation carried out by at least 409 parties of Punjab Police involving about 2863 police personnel across the state. He said that raids were planned after the questioning of several persons in the recently busted modules backed by Bhagwanpuria. Giving more details about the Operation, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order Arpit Shukla said that Police teams have conducted thorough searches at the houses and other premises linked with Bhagwanpuria and also collected the data from Electronic devices, which will be sent for forensic examinations. He said that several persons have also been detained for further verification and incriminating material has been seized from their possession, which is being further examined. He said that the Police teams have also checked arms licences and questioned people about the sourcing of ammunition, besides, gathering travel details of foreign-based family members, bank transactions from abroad, and western union and property details for further examination. He said that the operation was aimed at disrupting the nexus between terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers based in India and abroad. Such raids also help in infusing fear among the anti-social elements, whilst instilling a sense of safety and security among the common people, he added. Pertinently, Punjab Police has busted 26 terror modules with the arrest of 163 terrorists/radicals after recovering 30 sophisticated Rifles, 201 Revolvers/Pistols, and 25 Drones since March 2022. As far as gangsters are concerned, Punjab Police have succeeded in busting 140 gangster/criminal modules with the arrest of 555 gangsters/criminals and neutralizing two, and recovering 510 weapons and 129 vehicles used in criminal activities from their possession in the same period.
