CHANDIGARH, September 12:
In a major breakthrough against transnational organised crime amidst the ongoing campaign ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’ launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC), with the assistance of Central Agencies has secured the extradition of fugitive criminal Amritpal Singh alias Amrit Dalam, a key operative of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria Gang, from the Republic of Moldova, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.
The accused is wanted in multiple cases of murders, attempt to murder, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act, Narcotic offences, etc.
Pertinently, accused Amrit Dalam was detained by Moldovan authorities on February 24, 2026, while he was attempting to cross the Otaci state border towards Ukraine, following which, the extradition process against him was initiated through OFTEC Punjab. During these proceedings, the ‘Court of Chisinau’ granted the extradition of Amritpal Singh to the India on May 26, 2026. His appeal against the extradition order was also rejected by the ‘Court of Appeal Centru’ on July 16, 2026, thereby making the extradition order final.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said following the extradition of the accused, a four member team of Punjab Police was sent to Moldova to bring him back to India. The team, led by SP AGTF Bikramjit Singh Brar, comprised Inspector Pushvinder Singh, SI Jaspreet Singh and ASI Varinder Kumar as members.
Accused Amrit Dalam was taken into custody by the team of Punjab Police from Chisinau Airport, Moldova on Friday, and arrived at IGI Airport in New Delhi on Saturday morning, he said, while adding that the accused is being brought back to face the law in Punjab.
“This is the first-ever extradition secured by Punjab Police from a European country, marking a significant milestone in our fight against organised crime,” said the DGP, while adding that the operation marks the successful culmination of ‘Operation Eastern Reach’— a six-month-long intelligence-led international manhunt involving sustained surveillance, strategic intelligence gathering and close coordination with national and international agencies.
While commending the relentless efforts of AGTF Punjab and OFTEC Punjab, DGP Gaurav Yadav also thanked the Moldovan authorities, Azerbaijan authorities, International Police Cooperation Unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation (IPCU-CBI), Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and all other central agencies as part of this international cooperation.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) AGTF Promod Ban said that accused Amrit Dalam is wanted in at least seven murder cases including the murder of Dalbir Singh in Batala in 2019, double murder case of Amrjeet Lal and Kashmiri Lal in Hoshiarpur in 2024, murder of Dharamjit Singh alias Dharma in 2025, double murder case of Kanav Mahajan and Sarabjit Singh alias Kaka in 2025 and murder of Jasdeep Singh alias Deep Cheema in 2025. The accused had fled abroad in October 2024, using a fake passport prepared on particulars of Gurpal son of Hira Singh resident of Kurukshetra, Haryana India, he said.
Accused Amrit Dalam’s movements were tracked across multiple countries, while he was on run, said the ADGP, while adding that Punjab Police had issued Red Notice against the accused and shared inputs regarding his fake passport and whereabouts with central agencies at different intervals, which subsequently led to extradition of the accused.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Counter Intelligence Ashish Choudhary said that since establishment of OFTEC, nine high-priority fugitives have been deported from different countries in addition to the current extradition. Due to the meticulous efforts of the Cell, two extradition requests sent this year, have resulted in success, the earlier being the case of Amritpal Mehron from UAE, he said.
The IGP said that the OFTEC is vigorously pursuing extradition matter of 11 other foreign-based fugitives.
