Gangsters in Punjab: Hard Realities

The gangsters have been a serious challenge in Punjab for a long time. Punjab witnessed many small gangs of criminals even before rise of terrorism but the problem was overshadowed by terrorism which dominated the state for a one and half decade. Subsequently, the problem of gangsters once again emerged as a serious threat in the state. However, the incident of Nabha Jail Break-out on November 27, 2016 brought nationwide attraction to the issue of gangsters in Punjab. At that time, the police openly acknowledged that 57 organized gangs, having 420-odd members, were operating in the state.

Politicians and Criminals Nexus

The nexus between politicians and criminals has never been unknown phenomenon in India but its bad effects are realized and acknowledged only after some major incidents. In Punjab, the gangsters came out mainly because of nexus between the politicians and criminals. The unholy nexus gave birth to the gangsters in the state. According to Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Former Head OCCU, “Criminalization of Politics and Politicization of Crime is the main reason of gangsters' mushrooming and becoming a serious threat”. He further elaborates that no gangster can come out or survive without the support of the politicians who use them for the political gains. The political – criminal nexus gave birth to many gangsters in Punjab especially after phase of terrorism. It may be interested to mention here that several times prominent leaders of Congress Party and Shiromani Akali Dal blamed each other for having links with the gangsters and even released the related photographs to support the allegations. But Punjab Police never dare to investigate these allegations.

Prominent Gangsters

The following are the dreaded gangsters who got mammoth popularity in the state:
Sukhbir Singh Kahlwan alias Sukha Kahlon (Killed by gangsters in 2015); Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder (Killed in an encounter in 2018)); Prema Lahoria (Killed in encounter in 2018); Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki (In police custody);Tirath Singh Dhilwan (In police custody); Dilpreet Singh Dhahan (In police custody); Ravicharan Singh alias Ravi Deol (In police custody), Gurbaksh Sewewala (In police custody); Manpreet Manna and Prabhdeep Singh (Killed in police encounter in 2017); Kamaljeet Singh alias Bunty Dhillon, Jaspreet Singh, alias Jumpy and Nishan Singh (Committed suicide); Saraj Mintoo (In police custody); Jaipal Bhullar (Killed in an encounter in Kolkata in 2021); Jaspreet Singh (Killed in an encounter in Kolkata in 2021); Jaspreet Singh alias Goppy Ghanshampria (On the run): Lawrence Bishnoi (In police custody): Goldy Brar (Out of country). The fact, some of them have a large number of followers on social media.

Gangsters' Major Jolts

The gangsters who have been indulged in the activities of extortion, looting, murder and kidnapping etc. in the state, increased their activities openly to such an extent that police utterly failed to control them. The two major incidents- Sukha Kahlon Shootout (2015) and Nabha Jail Breakout (2016) clearly proved the edge of the gangsters over the police. In fact, these two incidents attracted nationwide attention to the issue. Sukha Kahlon Shootout 2015
Gangster Sukha Kahlon is gunned down in Paddi Khalsa village near Goraya (Phagwara) by a rival gang on January 21, 2015 in the presence of six policemen when he was being taken to Nabha jail after a court hearing in Jalandhar. The unidentified assailants travelling in a black Endeavour car, after a long chase around 4:30 pm, shot at and flattened a tyre of the police Gypsy that carried Kahlwan. The moment the policemen alighted from the vehicle, the assailants fired over a dozen bullets at Sukha. The killers, least 15 in numbers, dance around his bloodied body, shoot a video and post it online. The rival gang only left after ensuring Sukha was dead. The role of the policemen accompanying Sukha has come under the scanner as they failed to fire even a single shot in retaliation. They were carrying two carbines with 100 adequate ammunitions. A day after the killing of notorious gangster Sukhbir Singh Kahlwan alias Sukha Kahlon, in Phagwara, in police custody. The then Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal dismissed of two assistant sub-inspectors named ASI Nirmal Singh and ASI Jaswinder Singh who were in charge of the police escort party that was bringing Kahlon back from Jalandhar to Nabha jail in a jeep after a court hearing in Jalandhar. While the Head constables Malkiat Singh and Mann Singh and constables Surjit Singh and Yadwinder Singh, all from Patiala police, who were part of the escort party, were suspended and a departmental inquiry was instituted against them. The Deputy Chief Minister cum Home Minister, while admitting a serious security lapse on the part of the cops, also transferred the then, SSP of Kapurthala and Phagwara SP with immediate effect.
Nabha Jail Breakout (2016)
The Nabha Jail Break-out on November 27, 2016 brought nationwide attraction to the issue of gangsters in Punjab. It was a first-of-its kind attack that the gangsters made their way into the maximum-high-security Nabha Jail in the day light on November 27, 2016 and succeeded to free four dreaded gangsters along with two 104 terrorists firing over 50 rounds. In the jail break, the gangsters entered the jail gate in police uniform and then opened indiscriminate fire. According to senior police officer, the attackers were quick to spot Mintoo, Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder and four others. They shoved them into the fortuner (their vehicle) and flied, firing indiscriminately. Significantly, the Nabha Jail is spread across acres of land and it is impossible to locate anyone without an announcement. However, the escapees were waiting near the inside gate, hinting at collusion by somebody inside the jail. The audacious operation took about 20 minutes. The jail staff did not retaliate. Eleven shots were fired from a Light machine Gun (LMG) fixed on top of the jail roof when the attackers had already escaped. Significantly, the staff did not even chase the attackers' vehicles. The six escapees included four hardcore gangsters wanted in cases of murder, loot and dacoity and two dreaded terrorists. The four escaped gangsters were Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder Gounder, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian. Wheresas the two escaped terrorists were: Harminder Singh 'Mintoo, Chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and Kashmir Singh.
The gangsters along with six escapees successfully disappeared from the scene as well as from Punjab which proved total failure of not only Jail Security but law & order arrangements in the state. Significantly, terrorists who dominated Punjab almost one and half decade, could not dare doing such a jail break.

Governments' Initiatives

The Punjab Governments under the leadership Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh and Bhagwant Singh/ Mann took following initiatives to tackle the challenge of gangsters.
Special Task Force (STF)
In 2016, Parkash Singh Badal Government established Special Task Force (STF) to tackle gangsters. The command of STF was given to Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Inspector General of Police (IGP). The STF succeeded in keeping normalcy during the assembly elections 2017 and Kunwar Vijay Pratap IGP STF Singh was honoured with DGP Commendation Disc for ensuring gangster-free elections.
Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU)
However, the new government under the leadership of Amarinder Singh changed its name from STF to Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU) in 2017. This time, the command of OCCU was given to officer of Inspector General Rank (Nilabh Kishore, IG). This OCCU succeed to eliminate two escaped gangsters Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder and his key ally Prema Lahoria in an encounter on January 26, 2018 near the Punjab-Rajasthan border. Later the commend was given to Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. And subsequently, the command was transferred to a police officer of ADGP rank.
Anti-Gangsters Task Force (AGTF)
In 2022, Congress Government was replaced by the APP Government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann. The new government started facing criticism because of almost daily killings in its tenure in the beginning. The Mann Government ultimately constituted a Anti-Gangsters Task Force (AGTF) to handle the gangsters and gave its command to Pramond Ban, ADGP. Whereas Gurmeet Singh Bhullar, DIG & Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, AIG added as the members. But very soon DIG Bhullar transferred as DIG Rupnagar Range. Interestingly, very next day, Mann Government brought back DIG Bhullar in AGTF and gave him additional charge of Rupnagar Range. All these developments clearly show some confusions in Mann Government regarding dealing the gangsters in the state.
Punjab Control of Organized Crime Act (PCOCA) – Lack of Political Will
Punjab Police believes that the gangsters have links with the drug peddlers and Khalistani terrorists. But Punjab lacks a stringent Act like Maharashtra to tackle the organized criminal like gangsters. They feel there should be strong laws to rein in such gangsters. Hence the police suggest the Punjab Control of Organized Crime Act (PCOCA) to rein the gangsters. Punjab Control of Organized Crime Act is an improved version of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act. According to the draft of the law, a confession statement made before a DIG-rank officer is admissible in court. The confession may further be Punjab Police 216 ratified by an ADGP-rank officer. Currently, a statement made before the police does not hold any value in the court. Also, PCOCA is more stringent than MCOCA as the former provides for detention without bail up to one year, while Maharashtra's law allows detention up to six months 113 only. The Act was a brainchild of the then DGP Suresh Arora who wanted to introduce it during the previous SAD-BJP Government when Sukha Kahlon Shootout 2015 and Nabha Jail Break 2016 incidents had shaken the government. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Former Deputy Chief Minister cum Home Minister even brought the draft to the Cabinet in July 2016. But Badal could not get it passed because of open opposition from some Cabinet Ministers.
However, after the victory of Congress Party in the assembly elections of 2017, new Congress Government under the leadership of Amarinder Singh also announced to enact PCOCA so that the gangsters feared the law. The draft was taken to Cabinet meeting in April 2017 but several Cabinet ministers opposed it saying it could be misused for political vendetta. Subsequently, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh constituted a Cabinet Sub Committee headed by senior Cabinet Minister Brahm Mohindra to submit its report. The report was never submitted. Mohindra later clarified that the government had reined in most of the gangsters and there was no need of a draconian law like PCOCA.
Hence, the strong act to tackle the problem of gangsters dropped twice in the Punjab Cabinet just because of 'soft corner' of politicians towards the gangsters. In case of gangsters also, Punjab Police failed to control the gangsters mainly because of lack of political will.
It is high time to realize that the law & order situation of Punjab is very bad and hence Punjab needs:
• a fully dedicated Home Minister having no other important portfolio who can take care of law & order situation by systematic strategies
• an ‘Operation Clean’ in the Punjab Police to trace and caught black sheep in the force who are patronising and using the gangsters for their vested interests.
• a Commission under the headship of a Retired Chief Justice of High Court should be appointed to investigate the nexus between politicians and gangsters.